KEY POINTS:
A surgeon who retrained after a review of his poor performance is entitled to have his Tauranga Hospital job back, even if staff there don't like it, the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) has ruled.
Ian Breeze was the subject of a Health and Disability Commissioner's investigation into his care of patients between 1998 and 2002.
He was ordered to undergo further training before returning to surgery.
Mr Breeze took a case to the ERA because he understood that once he had fulfilled the retraining requirements of the Medical Council, he would get his job back at Tauranga Hospital.
However, former Bay of Plenty District Health Board chief executive Ron Dunham told the authority that no such undertaking was made.
Mr Dunham said that Mr Breeze was told he would be supported in his retraining and re-credentialing, but that no promise was made that he would return to his position as a consultant general surgeon.
Paul Malpass, who supported Mr Dunham at a December 2003 meeting between the two parties , t old the ERA no promise was given to re-engaging Mr Breeze as a consultant general surgeon.
In February last year, the Medical Council said it believed Mr Breeze was now competent and "perfectly suitable for elevation to consultant status, depending on the environment in which he worked".
ERA member Dzintra King ruled that she was satisfied that there was an agreement that once Mr Breeze's retraining had been completed, the DHB would have him back and would go through the credentialing process to enable him to re-enter the workforce as a surgeon at Tauranga Hospital.
An issue which arose during the hearing was that medical staff at the hospital were resisting the return of Mr Breeze.
Ms King said they had a legal obligation, just as employees in other occupations did, to carry out lawful and reasonable instructions.
If the matter could not be resolved satisfactorily for both parties, they might want to consider mediation, she said.
A spokeswoman for the DHB said it intended to appeal the decision.
- NZPA
