Chris Phoon is a friend and colleague. He is an excellent surgeon. He has empathy towards his patients and as far as I know his only “crime” was that he persisted in trying to improve patient care.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
I trust his clinical judgement implicitly. Even on Tuesday, after he was told his contract will not be renewed, he saw a patient of mine at my request for a second opinion. I would not have asked him to give a second opinion if I did not trust him.
The atmosphere in this hospital has become toxic to an extreme especially in the last few months after some changes at the top. It is affecting everyone's will to work. Matthew and I hung on even after we were handed down a contract with a 40% cut in pay because we believed in the new hospital and in the ability to help our patients. However a line has now been crossed and a friend and colleague has been seriously inconvenienced and maligned. Whatever the reason, right or wrong, being fired does leave a mark in a surgeon's mind and Chris did not deserve that.
Of course, to the administration, it is “business as usual”. When one does not have a clue as to what the business is, how it should be run, what it is supposed to look like when it runs well, in such a situation it is indeed business as usual however badly it is running. However, when someone says it is “business as usual” while knowing full well things are falling apart and says so in a public forum, they are in breach of the core values of openness, honesty and transparency. I suggest those who authorised that response acted contrary to the core values of our hospital, and we now know what the punishment for acting contrary to the core values should be.
How on earth does the hospital think it is business as usual when Chris cannot work and Matthew and I are cancelling our lists in protest at this injustice? This is not a decision taken without a lot of thought. I feel for each of my patients who are waiting for surgery and I apologise for prolonging their waiting period. I seek their understanding, for this is something we must do to make sure health care staff can do what they are here to do – that is care for their patients without having to play power games.
I hope good sense prevails, Chris is reinstated and people responsible for this disaster are held accountable. For quite some time, accountability has been missing and that is something Chris has been trying to improve. More power to your elbow Chris.
