Mackay SMO investigation prompts statewide audit
25 Jul 2025
Queensland's Hospital and Health Services (HHSs) will audit their processes for recruiting, managing and monitoring senior medical officers (SMOs), following an investigation into Mackay HHS.
The final report of the investigation into the recruitment, credentialing, and scope of clinical practice of Mackay HHS’s senior medical staff during 2023 and 2024 was released today.
The report shows the recruitment and management of all but one of the 37 SMOs employed in that time were adequately compliant with the applicable processes and practices relating to SMO recruitment, selection and credentialing, and defining the scope of clinical practice of SMOs.
The investigators identified opportunities to improve training resources for recruitment panel chairs.
Serious concerns were raised over the recruitment and selection processes, and supervisory records relating to one SMO. However, it was reported to investigators that this staff member was determined to have been adequately supervised, despite the lack of documentation.
The report made 11 recommendations including:
- updating SMO recruitment procedures
- training recruitment panel chairs
- updating the Mackay HHS Credentialing Procedure and Credentialing Best Practice Guideline to ensure both meet Queensland Health requirements, and
- strengthening processes for assessing, documenting, and monitoring SMOs.
Mackay HHS has developed an action plan to implement all recommendations and will provide quarterly updates on progress, starting October.
Queensland Health Director-General Dr David Rosengren has also asked the state’s 16 HHSs to ensure a robust process is in place to assess, document, monitor and manage supervision activities for non-specialist senior medical staff.
He also requested an audit be undertaken on current supervision of these staff.
“The report shows that, in the main, Mackay HHS’s processes for managing its SMOs are adequate from a compliance perspective,” Dr Rosengren said.
“Significant concerns were raised in relation to the recruitment, scope of practice and supervision of one SMO. This highlights the need to strengthen processes relating to the recruitment, scope of practice, and supervision of SMOs.
“I commend Mackay HHS for acting swiftly to address these issues, before, during and following the investigation.
“This is an opportunity to apply scrutiny to processes across the entire state, not just in one HHS, to prevent similar issues from arising.
“As such, I have asked all HHSs to audit their own processes for supervision of SMOs to make sure they are robust and compliant with appropriate guidelines.”
Dr Rosengren commissioned the investigation under Part 9 of the Hospital and Health Boards Act 2011 in January this year.
It followed a clinical review prompted by concerns around clinical scope and supervision requirements for non-specialist senior medical staff.
For more information about the Health Service Investigation, visit: https://www.health.qld.gov.au/research-reports/reports/review-investigation/mackay-reviews
