A West Island surgeon has been found guilty of violating the medical code of ethics by failing to provide timely summaries of her operations.
Dr. Sharon Dalrymple is the head surgeon at the Lakeshore General Hospital and has been a surgeon for 21 years, with half of her practice related to oncology.
Dalrymple was called out for not doing her reports on time for 36 patients dating back to last spring. The reports are supposed to be dictated into a telephone system. The reports contain important follow-up information for both patients and doctors and need to be done as soon as possible to keep the details are fresh as possible.
At a disciplinary hearing, Dalrymple said she wasn't looking to shirk her responsibility or trivialize the importance of the reports but that there's just no time between patients to do it. She said she did her best but she wasn't ready to sacrifice the interest of her next patient waiting for surgery. Dalrymple also said she wrote post-op notes for some of the cases.
The disciplinary committee for the Quebec College of Physicians imposed a conditional suspension on the charges related to the Code of Professions having to do with the dignity and honour of the profession.
A date will be set for arguments on sanctions.