Late on Wednesday afternoon following a week of escalating tensions between Orange’s Medical Staff Council (MSC) and hospital management over the standing down of the senior cardiologist, the  MSC were notified in writing by the NSW Ministry of Health  that an inquiry would now take place.

“It is welcome that they [Ministry of Health] seem to be genuinely going to take this action,” Orange’s MSC chair Dr Ruth Arnold said.

“What we don’t know, however, is how long that inquiry will take and what they will do with the evidence.”

Dr Arnold said doctors from the MSC who were involved in last Monday’s extraordinary meeting, which called for the immediate reinstatement of the cardiologist, and carried a vote of no confidence in hospital management, were keen for an early resolution.

“This has been a particularly distressing time for the doctor involved and his family and it has been heartening to see the amount of support from the medical community,” Dr Arnold said.

The cardiologist at the centre of the inquiry has been in dispute with the hospital since September last year after he initially lodged a complaint about a fellow clinician’s handling of patients.

The cardiologist then found himself at the centre of an inquiry following conflict with senior staff at the hospital over patient welfare in a separate incident.

The Central Western Daily has requested a response from the NSW Ministry of Health as to the timing of the proposed inquiry, who will conduct the inquiry, and when findings will potentially be released.

The MSC has also requested a further meeting with the executive of the Western NSW Local Health District to resolve the conflict between clinicians and hospital management.

janice.harris@fairfaxmedia.com.au