'Closer eye needed' on doctors

Judith Wood, left, Bev Foster and Shirley Crowley lost family members after Ian Breeze operated on them. Picture / Bay of Plenty Times

The wife of a patient who died after bungled bowel surgery has called for improved monitoring of medical practitioners' competence.

"There is a need for one body to undertake a lead role in assessment and certification," said Shirley Crowley, whose questions over her 65-year-old husband Lionel's death in December 1999 helped spark investigations into the work of censured Tauranga surgeon Ian Breeze.

Yesterday Health and Disability Commissioner Ron Paterson released his final report from a two-part investigation into Mr Breeze and the hospitals that employed him.

The commissioner criticised Tauranga Hospital and the city's Norfolk Community Hospital for failing to maintain and monitor the general surgeon's ability and for putting legal worries ahead of patient safety.

Mr Paterson said privacy concerns should not prevent hospitals from sharing information.

The commissioner's report was comprehensive and concluded with recommendations, Mrs Crowley said.

"But who is going to oversee this and make sure it doesn't happen again? There has to be a monitor. Maybe the commissioner is correct in saying it is up to the employer. But will employers take note?"

Mrs Crowley said the complaint process was difficult and prolonged.

"This one has been very stressful for all concerned, not only for my family. Five years is far too long."

Both she and another Tauranga woman, Judith Wood, whose father Barry Baker died a year after Mr Crowley, said they had been unaware of concerns surrounding Mr Breeze. They did not know he had been working under restrictions since 1995.

The bowel surgery deaths need not have happened if Tauranga Hospital and Norfolk had not "hidden behind the Privacy Act".

Norfolk Hospital has since merged with Tauranga's Southern Cross Hospital, which was cleared of any fault over Mr Breeze.

Bev Foster, whose 73-year-old mother died the day after Mr Crowley, and who helped trigger the inquiry, said she could not comment because she had not seen the commissioner's report. A full copy should have been couriered to the affected families as a matter of courtesy, she said.

"There is a lot we could say."

Bay of Plenty District Health Board chief executive Ron Dunham said Tauranga Hospital had been frustrated by the time it took the Health and Disability Commission and the Medical Council to complete their investigations.

Mr Breeze, who still performs minor surgical procedures at Tauranga Hospital, could not be contacted for comment.

The rulings

Tauranga Hospital, including the Bay of Plenty District Health Board and its predecessors, failed to fulfil its obligations.

It did not have in place a system to monitor Mr Breeze's practice effectively between July 1,1996, and December 1999 and failed to reassess earlier concerns about his practice.

It did not respond in a decisive and timely manner to the serious concerns raised about Mr Breeze's practice in December 1999.

Norfolk Community Hospital did not take adequate steps to respond to increasing concerns about Mr Breeze's competence.