Australian hospital fails training accreditation after 25-year run with ‘A’ rating

An Australian hospital’s radiology department recently failed its college training accreditation after a 25-year-long run with an “A” rating, ABC News reported this week.

According to a report obtained by ABC, Canberra Hospital failed to meet 28 of 32 criteria required to keep training its radiologists, receiving a “D” grade upon evaluation. The report stated the hospital’s radiology trainees were under-educated and ill-equipped to handle on-call work, posing threats to patient safety.

A staff shortage—something the report recommended Canberra Hospital alleviate by “urgently” recruiting two new radiologists—was creating tension within the department, ABC News wrote, but there was existing departmental strife.

“There is the feeling that the internal political issues make working in the department difficult and cause low morale amongst staff,” the report read. “These issues are having a significant impact on the wellbeing of the trainees.”

The report made 16 suggestions for the hospital, seven of which are expected to be completed within three months. 

Jeff Fletcher, the CMO for ACT Health, which operates Canberra Hospital, told ABC the hospital is moving forward in filling the vacant positions and working toward addressing other recommendations.

“Any downgrading of accreditation with respect to college training is always disappointing,” he said.

Read the full story from ABC News at the link below.

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After graduating from Indiana University-Bloomington with a bachelor’s in journalism, Anicka joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering cardiology. Close to her heart is long-form journalism, Pilot G-2 pens, dark chocolate and her dog Harper Lee.

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