The alleged stabbing of a doctor by an overseas-trained colleague calls into question the processes that ensure those entering the New Zealand workplace are suitable, the Resident Doctors Association says.
The alleged attacker, 48, who has interim name suppression, was granted bail when he appeared in Palmerston NorthDistrict Court yesterday on a charge of wounding with intent to injure.
He is alleged to have stabbed a 31-year-old registrar at a team meeting at Palmerston North Hospital on Monday. He has been ordered to undergo a psychiatric assessment.
Association secretary Deborah Powell said the health system had a number of processes to test whether overseas-trained medical professionals were suitable for New Zealand.
"The question I'm asking is: Did this person go through that process? If they did, we seem to have missed something. If not, why not?
"If the doctor had psychological problems, they should have been picked up. If our screening processes have failed, we need to know and we need to get that fixed."
Dr Powell said that if screening had failed in this case, it could have failed elsewhere in the country.
The doctor, who was trained overseas, was on an eight-day placement at the request of the Medical Council to test his competence. A condition of the placement was that he work under constant supervision.
MidCentral District Health Board acting chief executive Mike Grant said the council might have screened the doctor, but the board had not, as council requests were handled differently from employment situations.
He said the doctor's supervisor would have to pick up any signs that all was not well, and there were no such signs as the doctor saw 12 patients over five days before the incident.
"The doctor was under close supervision, so his every decision was being monitored and observed."
Mr Grant said the motive for the attack was still a mystery, but he understood it to be personal and nothing to do with professional work at the hospital.
A spokesman from the Medical Council said the doctor did not have a current practising certificate and could not practise in New Zealand.
He declined to comment further as the matter was before the court.
The doctor was ordered to reappear in court on May 30. The victim suffered a moderate wound and is recovering at home.
