Removal of doctors from practice for professional misconduct in Australia and New Zealand

Abstract

Objective: To examine how disciplinary tribunals assess different forms of misconduct in deciding whether to remove doctors from practice for professional misconduct. Design and setting: Multivariable regression analysis of 485 cases in which tribunals found doctors guilty of professional misconduct. The cases came from four Australian states (New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia) and New Zealand and were decided over a 10-year period (1 January 2000-30 September 2009). Main outcome measures: Type of misconduct, the tribunal's explanation for why the misconduct occurred, and the disciplinary measure imposed. Results: 43% of the cases resulted in removal of the offendin..