Endometriosis affects roughly one in nine Australian women of reproductive age — a figure that underscores just how much is at stake when questions arise about the conduct of specialist care in this field. This week, those stakes came sharply into focus in Victoria, where complaints against a prominent endometriosis specialist have triggered responses from both police and the state's independent health safety regulator.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan confirmed that Safer Care Victoria and police have been alerted to complaints against Dr Simon Gordon, an endometriosis specialist based at Epworth hospital. The announcement signals that concerns about Dr Gordon's practice have escalated well beyond internal hospital channels, drawing the attention of both the state's health oversight machinery and law enforcement.
Safer Care Victoria has been designated to sit on a review panel examining the Epworth hospital's governance in relation to the allegations. The involvement of an independent state body in scrutinising a private hospital's internal governance structures is a significant step, and reflects the seriousness with which the Allan government is treating the matter.
Accountability and the Private Hospital Sector
From an institutional accountability standpoint, the decision to engage both law enforcement and the state health regulator represents exactly the kind of response patients and the public are entitled to expect. Private hospitals operate under accreditation requirements and obligations to their patients; when serious complaints arise, appropriate oversight must be activated without delay. Opacity in such situations corrodes the public trust upon which the entire health system depends.
The governance review at Epworth also raises broader questions about how private hospitals manage internal complaints processes. Unlike public hospitals, which are more directly subject to government oversight, private facilities can operate with a degree of insularity that, when things go wrong, may allow concerns to persist longer than they should. Whether that is the case here remains to be established through the review process.
Due Process Remains Essential
It is equally important to note that allegations are not findings. Medical complaints processes exist precisely because clinical decision-making is complex, and what may appear troubling from outside a consultation room may have legitimate professional explanation. Dr Gordon has not been found to have acted improperly, and any fair account of these events must acknowledge that due process — for practitioners as much as for patients — is a cornerstone of the rule of law.
The medical profession is not served well when public pressure or political attention compresses the time available for careful, evidence-based investigation. The value of Safer Care Victoria's involvement lies in its independence; that independence must be allowed to operate free from premature conclusions or political interference.
A Broader Systemic Context
The case also illuminates wider pressures within endometriosis care in Australia. Senate inquiries and patient advocacy groups have long documented the significant diagnostic delays women with endometriosis routinely face — often many years between first presenting symptoms and receiving a confirmed diagnosis. That diagnostic gap concentrates immense trust in the hands of the specialists who ultimately provide answers, which in turn creates conditions where the power dynamics between practitioner and patient deserve particular and ongoing scrutiny.
The appropriate response to this situation is neither to rush to judgement nor to look away. Victoria's health oversight infrastructure exists for precisely these moments. Safer Care Victoria's seat on the Epworth review panel should give patients confidence that independent scrutiny will be rigorously applied. Whatever its findings, the process must be thorough and transparent — and its conclusions should inform genuine, lasting improvements in how Victoria's health system handles complaints against medical specialists.
Originally reported by The Sydney Morning Herald.