Heather Saxena A GP accused of making racist

told her : “ New Zealanders with both Māori and Euro-

asked who was “ the natural mother ” and if “ they even

including education on respectful clinical interac-

supervisor and $ 5000 for the education , which was finan-

and homophobic comments

pean descent do not want

knew the father ”.

tions and culturally safe

cially unviable .

to patients has won his case

to acknowledge European

In March , the Medical

practice , with the conditions

In response , the medi-

to have supervision require-

descent because they want to

Board of Australia invoked

to be reviewed in 10 months .

cal board ’ s lawyer countered

ments lifted , with a tribunal

claim Māori descent for gov-

its power to impose con-

Unable to practise , the

that the supervisor could

finding they were the “ equiv-

ernment benefits .”

ditions on the GP , includ-

doctor appealed to the Vic-

work in the practice while

alent of a suspension ”.

In the second case , a

ing a requirement that a

torian Civil and Administra-

supervising him .

The GP , who runs a solo

same-sex couple complained

board-approved supervisor

tive Tribunal asking it to lift

“ The suggestion was that ,

bulk-billing practice in

about questions the GP had

be physically present while

the conditions until a formal

when the supervisor was not

regional Victoria , came to

allegedly asked them dur-

he was seeing patients .

hearing into the allegations

seeing patients , they could

the attention of AHPRA fol-

ing an appointment for their

The GP , who denied he

could be held .

be present in the consulting

lowing two complaints .

five-year-old son , who was

was racist or homophobic ,

He claimed it would

room with [ the GP ],” wrote

A patient of Māori back-

conceived with a sperm

was also ordered to under-

cost at least $ 364,000 over

senior tribunal member

ground claimed the GP had

donor . He was said to have

take one-on-one education ,

the 10 months to employ a

Anna Dea .

“ Otherwise , [ he ] could

ask the supervisor to step out

of their own consultation to

discuss concerns about communication

with a specific

patient , or they could discuss

interactions during or at the

end of the day .”

But the GP ’ s lawyer said

this would be unworkable

because his practice only

had two rooms : one for consultations

and the other for

treatment .

The supervision order would have been ‘ the equivalent of a suspension ’.

The tribunal ruled in

favour of the GP , saying the

supervision order would

place a “ significant financial

imposition ” on him and

could “ render the practice

unviable ”.

“ Further , given he is a

sole practitioner and would

have had to make special

… changes to his practice , I

accepted it would be so difficult

for [ him ] to comply with

the supervision condition

that it may be regarded as

the equivalent of a suspension

,” Ms Dea said .

“ Without minimising the

harmful effects of inappropriate

and insulting communications

directed at patients

by medical practitioners , I

concluded that the greater

public interest for now was [ the GP ] being able to continue

to practise , and so it

was appropriate to stay the

supervision and education

conditions .”

The GP claimed that his

discussion with the patient

of Māori heritage was “ an

attempt to build rapport with

the patient ”.

With regard to the samesex

couple , he said questions

about biological parentage

were relevant for gaining

an appropriate history and

that it was possible the parents

had been offended by an

“ unintended slight ”.

The tribunal stressed

that a determination of

whether the GP ’ s comments

were racist or homophobic

would have to wait until a

formal hearing .