Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia v Fankhauser

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia sought a decision from the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal against Cheryl Ann Fankhauser, a registered nurse and formerly a registered midwife, regarding allegations of professional misconduct. The case centred on the care provided by Ms Fankhauser to a patient in labour and the subsequent alteration of the patient's medical records. The Tribunal was required to decide whether Ms Fankhauser's actions constituted professional misconduct, whether the Tribunal had the power to impose certain conditions on her future registration, and whether a non-publication order should be made regarding the patient.

The Tribunal found that the failure to give notice under section 398ZA of the Health Practitioners (Disciplinary Proceedings) Act 1999 (Qld) did not deny Ms Fankhauser procedural fairness, as she had been legally represented and had full knowledge of the case against her. The Tribunal concluded that Ms Fankhauser's conduct did constitute professional misconduct, as it was a fundamental breach of her professional responsibility and duty to deliberately alter medical records. The Tribunal also determined that it did not have the power under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (Queensland) to impose conditions on Ms Fankhauser's future registration or to require her to attend counselling as a condition precedent to applying for re-registration. However, the Tribunal did have the power to disqualify her from applying for re-registration for a specified period.

In light of these findings, the Tribunal decided to cancel Ms Fankhauser's registration and disqualify her from applying for re-registration for a period of 18 months. The Tribunal also made a non-publication order to protect the patient's personal and sensitive information, as it was not in the public interest for such information to be published.