O&G Cases · Professional practice — ethics, law and regulation
Open disclosure after an intrapartum stillbirth — communication and medico-legal station
High-stakes open-disclosure and medico-legal station testing team alignment, plain disclosure, response to emotion, audit and coronial pathway, AHPRA notification thresholds, expert-witness preparation, MDO involvement and staff support. Includes assessor timeline, marking domains, assessor key and fail criteria.
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Target exams
Station brief
Format. Approximately 12 minutes. You are the consultant obstetrician. A senior midwife and a social worker are with you. The clinical director is on the unit; the medical defence organisation (MDO) is one phone call away. The assessor will run the clock and feed you the family's questions and your unit's escalation prompts.[10][16]
Candidate instruction. Lead the first family conversation, plan the disclosure to the mother when she is clinically ready, and explain what will happen over the next 24 hours and beyond. Verbalise exact words, not "I would counsel them". Talk to the assessor as your registrar, the unit coordinator and your MDO when prompted.[10][16]
References7ShowHide
- [1]High Court of Australia Rogers v Whitaker (1992) 175 CLR 479 High Court of Australia, 1992.Source
- [5]Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency Guidelines for mandatory notifications AHPRA, 2024.Source
- [10]Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care Australian Open Disclosure Framework ACSQHC, 2013.Source
- [13]Parliament of New South Wales Coroners Act 2009 (NSW) NSW Government, 2009.Source
- [15]Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care Implementing the Australian Open Disclosure Framework in maternity services ACSQHC, 2023.Source
- [16]Health and Disability Commissioner Guidance on open disclosure: lessons learnt HDC, 2023.Source
- [12]Australian Government Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (the National Law) Queensland Government, 2009.Source