Tasmania's appeals tribunal has outlined the reason why the state's chief psychiatrist had his registration suspended by the Medical Board of Australia last month.
Aaron Groves had started an alleged "inappropriate" relationship with a woman, which the medical board described as having a "power imbalance". However, both Dr Groves and the woman involved have disputed this characterisation.
The medical board suspended Dr Groves's registration on October 3, and his attempt to have a stay placed on his immediate suspension — heard by the Tasmanian Civil and Administration Tribunal (TASCAT) — was dismissed.
His employment has been temporarily suspended.
The woman had notified the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) in February 2021 of allegations of "inappropriate behaviour" against her by a Royal Hobart Hospital (RHH) doctor — not Dr Groves — between 2013 and 2019.
She claimed the doctor had contacted her despite being told not to.
In March 2021, then-health minister Sarah Courtney met with the woman, and an adviser arranged for Dr Groves to contact her to discuss mental health concerns — with her permission.
He arranged for her to undergo treatment the following day by another medical practitioner, under the government's Mental Health in the Home unit.
Dr Groves maintained "sporadic" contact with her during 2021, and they then commenced a personal relationship in December.
In her decision last month, TASCAT senior member Lucinda Jack said a pharmacist had informed AHPRA of Dr Groves prescribing a schedule 8 controlled drug in June 2022. The decision does not say who the drug was prescribed for. Some sections of the TASCAT decision are redacted.
The next month, Health Department secretary Kathrine Morgan-Wicks told Dr Groves there were "reasonable grounds" to believe a breach of the State Service code of conduct might have occurred.
In August, Ms Morgan-Wicks outlined further grounds for a breach, and a full code of conduct investigation into Dr Groves had started. He was suspended on full pay.
The next day, the department notified AHPRA of the personal relationship. The Medical Board of Australia chose to take "immediate action" and suspended Dr Groves.
Woman says Groves was 'professional, supportive'
The medical board alleged Dr Groves "was aware" that the woman was "vulnerable and suffering from mental health issues".
Dr Groves applied for a review of this decision, and for a stay while the review occurred.
He said he never performed any clinical assessment of the woman, did not treat her, only spoke about her RHH doctor complaint, and he used the department's Connecting with People approach when first contacting her.
Dr Groves — in his stay application — said their ongoing contact was about updates on her complaint.
In a witness statement, the woman described Dr Groves as "professional [and] supportive", and disputed that there had ever been a doctor-patient clinical relationship.
She "took issue" with AHPRA's characterisation of her as "vulnerable, drug affected [and] mentally ill".
Dr Groves applied for a stay on the suspension as he believed there was a "serious question" over the decision.
The medical board alleged Dr Groves had misrepresented his financial position, as he had not included that he was suspended on full pay for more than five weeks before the immediate action decision, and remained on full pay at the time of last month's hearing.
In her decision, Ms Jack said a stay on the suspension decision would not affect the department's code of conduct investigation process, and so Dr Groves's application was dismissed.
The review of the suspension will be heard at a later date.
Silence 'not a good antidote'
Tasmanian Greens MP Rosalie Woodruff criticised the government for what she described as a "complete lack of transparency around a whole range of issues" surrounding the matter.
"The commission of inquiry has shown us that unless people in power are held to account, they cannot have confidence in their institutions. It's very important for the premier to be very clear with Tasmanians," she said.
"There was a gap in information provided about this situation with the chief psychiatrist. Silence is not a good antidote to poor behaviour and potential misconduct.
"The allegations need to be tested in the tribunal, but as it stands, we did not have transparency from the Department of Health about this matter. [It was] only through the media reporting that this matter came to light in the first place.
"It's very concerning for Tasmanians."
