It’s been revealed that one of Queensland’s top CMOs has been on a paid suspension for over a year over an investigation into clinical governance.
It’s been revealed that one of Queensland’s chief medical officers (CMO) has been suspended for the past year on full pay, pending an independent inquiry.
An ABC article reported that Dr Charles Pain is being investigated over alleged “poor clinical governance and credentialing and accreditation concerns” at Mackay Hospital and Health Service (MHHS).
According to the report, he had taken some time off work for prostate cancer treatment in September 2024. The doctor who was contracted to work in the CMO position during his absence contacted MHHS chief executive Susan Gannon to make a complaint about Dr Pain.
The complaint is believed to be about Dr Pain’s management of clinical incidents involving a senior medical officer. Shortly before he was due to return to work, Dr Pain was suspended immediately while an investigation took place.
However, 13 months later, there is no word of when the investigation will be complete.
When questioned, a Mackay Hospital and Health Service spokesperson told HSD:
“Mackay Hospital and Health Service (HHS) is unable to discuss specific, confidential human resource (HR) matters.
“This case is being considered by external agencies and it is not appropriate to make any further public comment at this time.”
According to the ABC, Dr Pain requested the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission provide him with the reasons for his suspension and a copy of his allegations against him.
He claimed he’d suffered irreparable reputational harm from the suspension and asked for $2.3 million in damages and civil penalty orders.
This was not granted, however, Dr Pain received written details of the allegations in April.
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Reports say Dr Pain continues to receive his salary, which according to the MHHS annual report was over $500,000 in the 2024-25 financial year. The HHS has also spent over $300,000 employing two doctors as acting CMO.
It’s been a turbulent year for MHHS. In January, a “Part 9” investigation was launched into the health service to examine the recruitment and credentialing of senior medical officers.
The investigation covered a two-year period from January 2023 to December 2024 to determine if Mackay HHS complied with processes and practices relating to senior medical officer recruitment and selection, their credentialing and the scope of practice, and to investigate what improvements needed to be made.
The investigation found one case where there wasn’t appropriate oversight and made a series of recommendations.
However, it also found that the CMO didn’t have direct line oversight and operational authority for senior medical officer recruitment.
They recommended this should change, suggesting “there should be a review of the current recruitment and selection workflow of SMOs to include a review and endorsement by the CMO prior to operational endorsement”.
Dr Pain did not respond to HSD’s request for comment.