Surgeon Banned for Six Months After Operating on Wrong Bowel End, Failing to Identify Cancer

A surgeon working in southern NSW who operated on the wrong end of a patient's bowel contributing to their death has been banned from practising for six months.

It is one of more than a dozen complaints lodged against Dr Liu-Ming Schmidt, which also included failing to identify a cancerous growth during a colonoscopy.

The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal found Dr Schmidt guilty of professional misconduct, stemming from proceedings instigated by the state's Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) involving 13 patients.

The tribunal heard Dr Schmidt has worked at Albury Wodonga Health, BreastScreen NSW, Tumut District Hospital and Griffith Base Hospital, over the last 17 years.

It also heard that in January 2023, Dr Schmidt agreed to a condition on her registration to "not practise medicine" for a year after an incident that was the subject of one of the complaints in the HCCC's proceedings.

Errors, unacceptable oversight and insight concerns

In one complaint, during a 2022 colonoscopy, Dr Schmidt failed to identify a large cancer in a patient's colon.

It was identified by another surgeon in a repeat colonoscopy three months later.

In another complaint, Dr Schmidt performed emergency surgery at Albury Hospital in 2019 for a bowel obstruction.

"The surgery was not successful because Dr Schmidt made a catastrophic error," the tribunal heard.

The patient died nearly four weeks after the surgery. A NSW coroner has previously ruled the death due to complications in part from a surgical error.

The tribunal also heard Dr Schmidt failed to disclose the error to the patient.

Another complaint regarding a patient with a bowel obstruction found Dr Schmidt failed to provide appropriate management and care for a patient.

"Her engagement, oversight and direct involvement was unacceptable," the tribunal ruled.

During the proceedings Dr Schmidt also admitted that between 2015 and 2021, she did not take adequate time to perform or capture images of patients undergoing colonoscopies at Wodonga Hospital.

She also admitted to failing to keep appropriate patient records and notes.

The tribunal heard Dr Schmidt's conduct in relation to one patient led to Safer Care Victoria recalling almost 2,000 of her colonoscopy patients, with around 1,000 undergoing a repeat procedure.

The Tribunal heard Dr Schmidt was "diligent" in trying to address the areas of concern raised by the HCCC, however it noted concerns about her insight into her conduct.

Dr Schmidt has also been ordered to pay the HCCC's legal costs, as well as undertake further training and supervision when the suspension on her registration lifts.