What do you do if your hospital CEO questions the value of clinical quality registries? In this episode of ‘Safeguarding Healthcare’, Dr David Rankin tackles the complexities of clinical quality registries with Professor Susannah Ahern from Monash University. Professor Ahern’s work informs national registry policy and practice, including the development and implementation of the National Clinical and Virtual Registry Strategy. It’s a fascinating look at how these vital tools, essential for...

Surgical staff are highly intelligent but may not intuitively understand numbers and graphs. So what do you do if you find the reports you’ve been producing aren’t actually understood by their intended audience? In this episode of ‘Safeguarding Healthcare – the Essentials of Clinical Governance’, host Dr David Rankin is joined by medical administration veteran Dr Craig Margetts, to study the intricacies of data interpretation, clinician engagement, and the delicate balance between individual...

What actions should a medical administrator take if confidential patient notes are sent to the wrong person? In this episode of 'Safeguarding Healthcare - the Essentials of Clinical Governance’, host Dr David Rankin presents this challenging hypothetical to Dr Colin Feekery, a former Acting Director of Medical Services at Alfred Health. The pair unravels issues relating to privacy issues, the complexities of handling sensitive patient information and the critical importance of robust training...

You are troubled by what may be an increased incidence of a normally routine surgical side effect. Where do you even begin to start troubleshooting? In this episode of ‘Safeguarding Healthcare - the Essentials of Clinical Governance’, host Dr David Rankin guides Dr Paul Tridgell through this challenging scenario. Together they explore the complexities of medical administration and the challenges it faces in measuring hospital-acquired complications. They delve into coding processes, risk...

What is Clinical Governance and what is the role of the Director of a healthcare organisation in ensuring the care that is provided is safe? In this episode, Dr David Rankin takes an unfortunate scenario that is not uncommon in the modern hospital. He explores the meaning of clinical governance with a range of senior medical administrators and then looks at the role of the director. The episode explores ways to determine if your organisation is providing care that is evidence based, creates...

What would you do if you discovered that one of your gynecologists had lied about their credentials? What are the implications for patients, staff, and the hospital at large? In this episode of ‘Safeguarding Healthcare’, Dr David Rankin discusses this challenging scenario with Dr Simon Fraser, Senior Medical Advisor at Medibank, and a Board member on a Victorian regional health service. The scenario highlights issues of patient safety, recruitment processes, and potential fraudulent behavior....

Where do you draw the line when assessing if a surgeon is qualified to undertake specific surgery? How do you determine their scope of clinical practice, and what happens if you have doubts? In this episode of 'Safeguarding Healthcare’, host Dr David Rankin and Dr Leah Barrett-Beck explore a challenging scenario. Learn about the importance of credentialing, ongoing training, and ensuring patient safety in complex medical procedures, and gain insights into the evolving landscape of healthcare...

A registrar is found asleep with his phone turned off during a serious emergency. In this episode of ‘Safeguarding Healthcare’, host Dr David Rankin poses a scenario involving a senior obstetric registrar who fails to respond to urgent calls during what has been a quiet shift. Dr. Rachel Cheong, the Director of Medical Services at Barwon Health in Geelong, responds to the hypothetical, offering insights into the key issues of clinical safety, professional behaviour, and wider organizational...

How do you deal with an anaesthetist who may have been sampling leftover fentanyl? In this episode of “Safeguarding Healthcare - the Essentials of Clinical Governance,” Dr David Rankin explores a complex scenario involving suspected drug misuse, unravelling the intricate threads of patient safety, staff well-being, and organisational culture. Dr Sue Nightingale, a seasoned psychiatrist and former Executive Director Clinical Governance, Education and Research at Sunshine Coast Hospital and...

In this episode of ‘Safeguarding Healthcare’, Dr David Rankin delves into the complexities of medical administration with guest Dr Bahare Moradi, the Acting Director of Medical Services at the Royal North Shore Hospital in northern Sydney. Together, they dissect a common scenario involving a surgical registrar facing a challenging appendectomy. Dr Moradi highlights the delicate balance between patient safety and providing learning experiences for trainees, emphasising the need for structured...

Compliance issues can be fraught. Engaging senior staff can be more like herding cats. In this episode of ‘Safeguarding Healthcare’, Dr David Rankin highlights the challenges faced by medical administrators focusing on the low compliance rates among hospital staff, especially senior medical professionals, with essential training requirements such as hand hygiene, emergency procedures, and cultural awareness. Dr Mainak Majumdar, the Director of Intensive Care Services at Mercy Hospital,...

What would you do if you found surgical instruments not being sterilised? In this episode of 'Safeguarding Healthcare – the Essentials of Clinical Governance', Dr David Rankin presents such a scenario to Professor Mary O'Reilly, Chief Medical Officer at Austin Health in Melbourne and an infectious disease specialist. Together, they navigate the aftermath of a potential sterilisation oversight involving endoscopy equipment. From assessing patient risk to addressing system failures and ensuring...

In this episode of 'Safeguarding Healthcare – the Essentials of Clinical Governance', Dr David Rankin explores the complexities of medical administration with Dr Paul Eleftheriou, Principal at Nous Group and former Chief Medical Officer at Western Health. They discuss a hypothetical scenario where tension between medical and nursing staff has contributed to a patient's avoidable death, emphasising the pivotal role of culture in clinical governance. Dr Eleftheriou highlights the need for...

How will artificial intelligence influence healthcare in the near future; what is the potential and what are the pitfalls? In this episode of ‘Safeguarding Healthcare - the Essentials of Clinical Governance’, host Dr David Rankin challenges senior healthcare administrator and healthcare futurist Professor Erwin Loh with a striking scenario. Together they delve into what to do when AI makes a mistake, explores biases, grapple with legal implications, and unravel the potential of AI to...

What would you do if a senior psychiatrist was slacking off, and staff had gone behind management’s back to report the matter? In this episode of Safeguarding Healthcare, Dr David Rankin presents Dr Leigh Haysom, the Clinical Director of Adolescent Health and Director of Medical Services for NSW’s Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network, with this difficult scenario. Dr Haysom offers insights into the complexities of managing poor performance and navigating potential legal...

In this episode of ‘Safeguarding Healthcare – the Essentials of Clinical Governance’, host Dr David Rankin interviews Professor Andrew Johnson from James Cook University, a veteran medical administrator now working as a consultant. They dissect the importance of measuring improvement effectively and addressing risk tolerance within the hospital system. Prof. Johnson suggests a shift in focus towards understanding and managing complexity in healthcare systems. The conversation offers practical...

In this episode of "Safeguarding Healthcare – the Essentials of Clinical Governance," Dr. Liz Mullins, the Director of Medical Services for Bega Valley Health Service, discusses engaging surgical staff in quarterly specialist craft group meetings with host Dr David Rankin. They address issues of relevance, consultation and the importance of mutual benefit. Dr. Mullins emphasizes the need for proactive engagement, personalized communication, and the role of directors of medical services in...

What does a medical administrator do when a patient who suffers complications from surgery complains that they weren’t warned? In this episode of Safeguarding Healthcare, Dr David Rankin delves into the intricate world of informed consent with Dr Tony Sara, who is a Medical Advisor at South Eastern Sydney Local Health District, President of the Australian Salaried Medical Officers’ Federation and a fellow of the Australian Institute of Digital Health. Their discussion explores various...

What does a medical administrator do when an aging, small town local doctor, in a region with medical staff shortage, starts to get too tired and makes mistakes? In this episode of Safeguarding Healthcare, host Dr David Rankin is in discussion with Associate Professor Kathleen Atkinson. Kath is a very senior clinician and medical administrator with over 35 years’ experience as a rural generalist. She has held health leadership, medical education and clinical governance roles in Tasmania, New...

What are the best approaches to being an effective medical department manager — even if you come to the job reluctantly? In this episode of Safeguarding Healthcare, host Dr David Rankin speaks with Dr Simon Collins about the challenges faced by medical department heads, focusing on a hypothetical scenario involving tensions between emergency and anaesthetic departments. The episode covers issues like ensuring safe coverage, managing relationships with other departments, addressing...

When an inpatient takes his own life, it sparks myriad issues and concerns for any medical administrator. In this episode, Dr David Rankin and Dr Nick O'Connor explore the challenges of medical administration in this tragic scenario, through the lens of the restorative justice approach. Dr O’Connor is the Clinical Lead of the Mental Health Patient Safety Program for the NSW Clinical Excellence Commission. He is a psychiatrist with more than 25 years’ experience in clinical leadership and...

How would a seasoned medical administrator handle a doctor whose eyesight is failing? In this episode of Safeguarding Healthcare Dr David Rankin delves into the complex world of medical administration with the Deputy Chief Medical Officer and Former Head of the Gynaecology Unit at Western Health, Dr Rupert Sherwood. Dr Sherwood is presented with the challenges and dilemmas raised by a scenario involving a seasoned gynaecologist whose deteriorating eyesight raises concerns about patient...

In this episode of Safeguarding Healthcare, we look at what would happen in a hospital when a newborn dies after a mother and midwife choose to ignore hospital protocols. Host and veteran medical administrator Dr David Rankin presents a senior NSW Health Ministry medical advisor, Dr Paul Douglas, with this hot-button scenario, in a medical landscape where patients are demanding more say in their care. Dive into the heart of the matter as they discuss patient autonomy, policy adherence, and...

In this episode of Safeguarding Healthcare, seasoned medical administrator Professor Gavin Frost and host Dr David Rankin discuss the complex scenario of a young, enthusiastic surgeon who is proposing a novel technique for pediatric diabetes management. They discuss the challenges, considerations, and stakeholder involvement necessary for such a venture, from the importance of research and evidence to engaging with various professionals and organizations. Prof. Frost's insights and advice on...