A surgeon who performed thousands of potentially “incomplete” colonoscopies in Albury-Wodonga has been temporarily banned from practising medicine.
Dr Liu-Ming Schmidt will remain registered as a GP and specialist surgeon in Australia, but according to conditions imposed on Friday cannot perform any medical procedures or treat patients.
This week, close to 2,000 patients who received colonoscopies by Schmidt were told they may need to have their procedures repeated to ensure they do not have cancer.
A panel of experts reviewed procedures involving Schmidt at Albury Wodonga Health, Albury Wodonga private hospital and Insight private hospital from 2018 to 2022 after one of her colleagues raised concerns. It found some colonoscopies she supervised or performed were incomplete.
The Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) and Medical Council of NSW work collaboratively to receive and manage complaints about registered doctors and medical students in New South Wales.
The HCCC said it had received a number of complaints regarding Schmidt.
“As a result Dr Schmidt now has a condition not to practise medicine placed on her registration,” an HCCC spokesperson said. “The commission is now conducting further detailed enquiries to determine the next regulatory steps.”
The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) does not have jurisdiction to investigate complaints in NSW as it does in other states and territories.
Schmidt is registered in NSW and the decision to impose conditions on her came after Safer Care Victoria flagged concerns over the colonoscopies with affected patients.
Safer Care Victoria said while the risk to patients was expected to be low in most cases all patients were being directly contacted so their risk could be assessed.
Schmidt also performed breast, thyroid and skin cancer surgeries, but Safer Care Victoria said those procedures had been “thoroughly reviewed” by experts who determined no follow-up treatment was required.
“Ahpra does not have any jurisdiction to examine allegations concerning registered health practitioners based in NSW, nor can it order conditions on their registration to protect the public while such investigations are carried out,” a spokesperson said.
“When allegations are raised about health practitioners in NSW, Ahpra must refer those to the NSW co-regulators.”