Surgeons who charge excessive out-of-pocket fees could be sanctioned for their “unethical” behaviour, the Chief Medical Officer has warned.

Professor Brendan Murphy says he is concerned that patients and their families are resorting to crowdfunding campaigns to fund expensive operations in private hospitals by high-profile surgeons.

“If someone’s fee-charging behaviour is so outrageous that it’s causing harm to a patient, then that may be a potential for us to consider that as unethical behaviour,” Professor Murphy told ABC Radio.

“Sometimes people feel that if they’re paying a lot of money out-of-pocket, they’re getting commensurately better quality care and there’s no evidence for that at all.”