Doctor promises never to practise medicine again A Queensland surgeon has promised never to practice medicine again after one patient died of a botched and unnecessary operation and another died after being sent home with internal bleeding. Dr Ross Gallery was director of surgery at Mt Isa Base Hospital from 2004 to 2005 during which time he treated two patients who died as a result of his ""inadequate judgment and unsatisfactory professional conduct"," the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal has found. He treated one female patient, who complained persistently of anal pain, over a four year period. Without making a concrete diagnosis, Dr Gallery agreed to remove part of the woman's rectum. The tribunal heard he performed the operation without the necessary staff and facilities and in a manner other than the usual accepted practice. He also failed to consider that the woman's symptoms may have been related to a psychological illness. The woman did not survive the operation. The tribunal heard an operation of that nature was best performed at Townsville Hospital, although the patient would have been required to travel nearly 1000 kilometres. ""Dr Gallery's desire to service the hospital's patients was admirable, but in this case, misguided,"" Judge Fleur Kingham said. ""It seems his aspiration to meet his patient's preferences overwhelmed his professional assessment of what was required to safely perform [the operation]."" The second patient arrived at the hospital in February 2005 complaining of abdominal pain. She was admitted into the care of Dr Gallery's surgical team and underwent an X-ray, CT scan and renal biopsy. However, the woman was discharged the next day without being examined by Dr Gallery. She died five days later of internal bleeding. Dr Gallery, who is now 73 years old, formally retired in 2008 and has since agreed during a tribunal hearing never to practice medicine again. ""The tribunal accepts that he genuinely regrets his unsatisfactory conduct and the tragic outcomes,"" Judge Kingham said.