GP loses $184,000 negligence case after failing to chase ‘lost’ referral
Judge says he should have found out why his surgical referral was not actioned by Canberra Hospital
A GP who failed to follow up his surgical referral for a patient with a chronic foot infection has been found negligent and ordered to pay $184,645 in damages.
The Canberra GP first saw the patient in 2013 when they presented with a hard and sore lump on the plantar surface of their right foot, over the second and third metatarsal heads.
Following treatment for hyperkeratosis and a cyst, the patient returned the following year with infected, tender nodules on the plantar surface of the foot.
The GP excised the lesion. A week later on 10 March, after an ultrasound showed a chronic cyst the size of a walnut containing debris, he referred the patient to a general surgeon at Canberra Hospital.
