Gynaecologist faces NSW inquiry over clinical failings

A doctor accused of botching treatments and performing unnecessary surgeries is facing an independent review after already being found guilty of professional misconduct earlier this year.

Dr Emil Gayed, a former gynaecologist and obstetrician, was banned from practising medicine when a string of complaints surfaced about his substandard care of seven patients over a three-year period.

NSW Health will now investigate the oversight into Dr Gayed’s activities and conduct. This includes how hospitals handled complaints against the medical practitioner, as well as the adverse events and performance issues raised throughout his career.

Why was Dr Gayed banned from practising medicine?

The Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) unveiled several clinical failings attributed to Dr Gayed, many of which would constitute medical negligence.

In addition to poor recording keeping and neglecting to obtain informed consent from patients, he made serious surgical mistakes, including:

• Performing an unnecessary hysterectomy against a patient’s wishes.
• Telling a woman she had cervical cancer and carrying out procedures when no evidence of malignancy existed.
• Unnecessarily removing a patient’s right ovary and fallopian tube, as well as injuring her left ureter.
• Failing to recognise that a woman was 10 weeks pregnant during an operation.

One woman also died after Dr Gayed failed to tell her she had hyperplasia, a condition that could indicate cancer. He also neglected to refer her to a cancer specialist and she passed away from the disease five years later, according to Guardian Australia.

Royal commission veteran heads the inquiry

NSW Health Secretary Elizabeth Koff appointed senior counsel Gail Furness as head of the inquiry into Dr Gayed. Ms Furness previously worked for the HCCC for three years and was appointed counsel assisting the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Abuse in 2013.

“Ensuring our patients receive quality and safe care is our priority, and I am very sorry that this has not been the case for some women treated in the past by Dr Gayed,” said Ms Furness.

“Our focus is on ensuring any woman with concerns about the care she may have received under Dr Gayed is provided with advice and any appropriate follow up assessment.”

In NSW, doctors owe a duty of care to ensure their patients aren’t harmed while receiving treatment. Anyone who is injured while under the supervision of a medical practitioner may be able to claim compensation as a result. Please contact Gerard Malouf & Partners Compensation, Medical Negligence & Will Dispute Lawyers if you would like to know how to proceed with a liability claim.