Terms of reference

I, Karen Crawshaw, Deputy Secretary, Governance Workforce and Corporate of the NSW Ministry of Health, acting as delegate of the Secretary, Ministry of Health, do hereby initiate an inquiry under section 122 of the Health Services Act 1997.

Mr Kieran Pehm and Dr Robert Herkes are appointed to undertake an inquiry to review the circumstances surrounding the registration, employment and management of Mr Shyam Acharya (aka Dr Sarang Chitale) in the NSW public hospital system, specifically to:

1. Review how Mr Acharya came to be employed in hospitals within the NSW Public Health System in 2003 and continued in that employment until 2014, in particular:
1. consider the legal and policy requirements in place at that time applicable to:
1. a person seeking registration as a medical practitioner in NSW
2. a person seeking employment as a medical practitioner in a NSW public hospital
3. the ongoing management of a person employed as a medical practitioner in a NSW public hospital.
2. assess whether those legal and policy requirements relevant to the registration, recruitment and ongoing management of Mr Acharya (using the name of Dr Sarang Chitale) were complied with.
2. Review the following records and information:
1. clinical records of individual patient cases raised with NSW Health, including the Central Coast Local Health District and Northern Sydney Local Health District, where Mr Acharya (using the name of Dr Sarang Chitale) provided the services
2. records relating to Mr Acharya’s recruitment and ongoing employment, including information on where Mr Acharya worked in the public health system
3. submissions received from members of the public in relation to these terms of reference
3. Noting that since 2003 there have been changes in both the laws and policies applying to registration, recruitment and management, assess and advise on what if any further changes to policy or law should be considered.
4. The Inquiry will have access to such administrative and clinical records held by public health organisations as necessary to undertake this inquiry and the process for the conduct of the inquiry will be as determined by the reviewers.

The Inquiry will provide a Report on the outcome of the review to the Secretary by 30 June 2017.​