A group of West Australian women have come forward with complaints about obstetrician gynaecologist George Campbell du Toit, who is at the centre of a storm in two states about his competency as a surgeon.
The Albany Health Campus, in Western Australia's Great Southern region, where Dr du Toit worked for four years before his contract was not renewed, has launched a review of the care he provided following "serious concerns" that have emerged in Queensland.
Martha Barnard-Rae, a mother of two boys, has complained to the hospital a second time after her ureter was damaged during a hysterectomy and vaginal repair by Dr du Toit in November 2017.
Despite undergoing an "emergency" operation to repair the ureter, and a further procedure to remove a stent, she said she had "never recovered fully".
"I'd like you to consider the question: is what I endured reasonable and is it acceptable that I'll be living with the physical and psychological effects of this experience for the rest of my life?", she asked in a letter to the Albany Health Campus's director of Medical Services, Dr Paul Mark.
The ABC has been contacted by half a dozen West Australian women with complaints about Dr du Toit after ongoing coverage on his practise in Mackay, in north Queensland.
Ms Barnard-Rae told the ABC the hospital originally told her when she first complained in 2018 that damage to the ureter was "a known complication for that operation".
However, an external review to her case was ordered when she complained again by email on October 10 after learning of issues with Dr du Toit in Mackay.
Mackay women have also spoken out about having their ureters or bladders cut while undergoing surgery by Dr du Toit.
Dr du Toit worked at the Albany hospital before moving to north Queensland to work as director of obstetrics and gynaecology at the Mackay Base Hospital in October 2020.
He left Albany for Queensland after being told his contract would not be renewed in Western Australia and resigned from the Mackay hospital in March this year ahead of the findings of a scathing review into its obstetrics and gynaecology unit.
In June, the Queensland Health Ombudsman placed a series of conditions on his practice as a doctor, which banned him from surgery and providing care to women during labour and immediately after birth.
A lawyer representing Dr du Toit said he was unable to comment on any matter relating to the Mackay investigation "other than to say that the investigators have advised Dr du Toit that no adverse findings were made against him in the investigation report".
Complainant only found out history by accident
Ms Barnard-Rae, who lives in Denmark, about 50km west of Albany, said she only found out about the conditions placed on Dr du Toit's practice by accident when she consulted with a doctor about her ongoing issues earlier this month.
"His contract wasn't renewed. Obviously, there would be a reason for that," she said.
"It wasn't like the hospital got in touch and said: 'Just so you know, this has happened.'"
But a day after the ABC approached the local health service about Ms Barnard-Rae's case, she received an email from Dr Mark saying the external review was "progressing well".
"It certainly seems we owe you our sincerest apologies on a number of issues," he said.
Albany resident Jacqueline Fimister said Dr du Toit operated on her for a prolapsed bowel, bladder and uterus in June 2016.
She suspected something had gone wrong soon after the procedure and raised her concerns at follow-up appointments with Dr du Toit but was repeatedly told she had nothing to worry about.
Ms Fimister said she then went to her general practitioner.
"I said to her that just something wasn't right, I still had a lot of pain," Ms Fimister said.
She said her GP examined her and referred her to Perth's King Edward Memorial Hospital for further surgery.
"After the operation … I was pretty upset, because I'd spent nine months basically unable to do much because of the pain he'd caused me," Ms Fimister said.
"To have to go through a second operation … to actually fix his mess and do things that he was supposed to have done, but didn't do, you know … I was in tears.
"I trusted him. He's got a lot to answer for."
Values 'misaligned' with Albany hospital
In a statement, the West Australian Country Health Service chief operating officer Robert Pulsford said a review of care provided in Albany had been "proactively" undertaken following "the serious concerns out of Mackay".
"At no stage did this person have any limitations placed on their credentialling or scope of practice while employed by the WA Country Health Service," he said.
"The organisation did, however, make a conscious decision to not renew the employee's contract after it become [sic] clear their values were misaligned with our own.
"All patients should be reassured that any concerns about care at any of our facilities will be taken seriously and acted upon in an environment that is safe, transparent and focused on the patients' best interests."
Mackay women suffered lifelong harm
Frustrated Mackay Base Hospital midwives say they complained to their hospital leaders for months about Dr du Toit but it was only when they contacted patient advocate Beryl Crosby, who lives 600km away in Bundaberg, that something was done.
Ms Crosby took their concerns to then Mackay Hospital and Health Service chief executive Lisa Davies Jones, who suspended Dr du Toit and ordered an external review into the facility's obstetrics and gynaecology unit.
The investigation found many Mackay women had suffered lifelong and physical harm.
Ms Crosby welcomed the review of cases in Albany but said it must be independent.
She also called on the WA Country Health Service to set up a hotline to allow women who may have had a bad outcome to come forward.
"I'd like to know why his contract wasn't renewed there and why they didn't do anything if they had incidents," she said.
"Why did they not report him to regulatory bodies instead of just not renewing his contract?
"Could the women of Mackay have been saved their trauma?
"They deserve answers.
"They've been through so much anxiety and trauma and pain. These women are still struggling. Their physical and mental trauma has been horrific and it's ongoing."
