November 1, 2013
Kingaroy GP Isabelle Jonnson-Lear will face a hearing in February which could determine whether her medical registration will be reinstated.
Dr Jonnson-Lear released a statement this week confirming her registration had been suspended after a complaint had been lodged against her.
“I breached patient confidentiality in a one-off situation in specific circumstances unique to the occasion,” the statement noted.
“I am not at liberty to make further comments as the matter is sub judice.”
The incident allegedly occurred in 2006 and Dr Jonnson-Lear was suspended last Monday.
A staff member at Dr Jonnson-Lear’s surgery, the Haly Health and Skin Medical Centre in Haly Street, confirmed the surgery would remain open in the meantime and locums were being organised to see patients.
Cr Jonnson-Lear is a board member of the Skin Cancer College of Australasia.
The association’s website notes she trained in South Africa and obtained a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery in 1976.
She emigrated to Australia in 1999 and is a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, a Fellow of the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine, and has a Master of Medicine in Primary Skin Cancer Care.
Dr Jonnson-Lear made national headlines in 2005 when she announced the death of former Queensland Premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen to the media.
She had been Sir Joh’s personal physician for many years.
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