Oops. It may have read more clearly if I had added, "at the time" of the cough.
I understand the definition of a 'junior' doctor to be a doctor who is working as a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd year intern - not as a Registrar. If I'm wrong - mea culpa. I did just do a search for the lady's name & 'Registrar' but cannot find a single reference to her as a registrar. One article published this afternoon does say the elderly lady was being examined for breathing difficulties - something that I hadn't seen in articles since Nov 13.
In a number of articles, early on, after a 'junior' doctor was identified - they stated that she was with a different patient when she heard a cough. Yes she was also the treating doctor for the elderly lady, but she was with another patient at the time of the 'quiet cough'.
As you mention NSW Health, isn't the standard protocol that a 'junior' doctor (aka intern) normally deals with walk-ins and subsequently seeks guidance if needed from more senior doctors before even thinking of going to the registrar?
To draw a significant distinction at Nov13th:
- NSW had local transmission (cases outside of quarantine) within a week of that date
- Adelaide had zero local transmission (case outside of quarantine) reported for around six months or so.
No narrative just drawing a distinction between people at the top of the tree vs a junior (entry level?) doctor. Given the pressure junior doctors work under & documented excessive hours they're forced to work (not to mention the rate of suicide being many times that of the general population) - I stand by my opinion that I think she did brilliantly!
Reducing risk of suicide in medical profession | The Medical ...
www.mja.com.au › journal › reducing-risk-suicide-med...
“Over a matter of months, two female
junior doctors committed
suicide at our ...
suicide at 2.27 times the
rate of the general population, and male doctors only a ...
“In recent Australian surveys, one in five students reported suicidal ideation in the preceding 12 months, while 50 per cent of junior doctors experienced moderate to high levels of distress,” Ann McCormack, endocrinology specialist at St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney, wrote.