A proposal to remove specialist medical colleges from the assessment of some IMGs wanting to work in Australia risks a repeat of the Dr Jayant Patel case — the US-trained surgeon dubbed ‘Dr Death’ by the media — the RACGP has warned. 

The college was responding to a government-commissioned review of IMG bureaucracy, which has suggested the Australian Medical Council take over assessment of doctors with specialist qualifications from ‘trusted’ countries such as the US, the UK and New Zealand. 

The recommendation, from the review’s interim report, would mean IMGs from such nations would no longer have to go through the so-called Competent Authorities Pathway, where their skills are assessed frequently while working under supervision in Australia.  

But RACGP president Dr Nicole Higgins has cited the manslaughter charges against Dr Jayant Patel, the director of surgery at Bundaberg Base Hospital 20 years ago, to argue why the reforms would risk patient safety.