Queensland surgeon speaks out after she was caught swaying between patient’s legs during operation after drinking wine and spirits
Dr Alexandra Mowat, a Queensland obstetrics and gynaecology surgeon, has spoken publicly after being reprimanded for professional misconduct following an incident in which she was removed from an operating theatre for showing signs of intoxication. The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal found Mowat had been drinking with friends before being called in as on-call Senior Medical Officer, then attended a semi-urgent operation while unsteady on her feet, prompting colleagues to have her removed before any harm came to the patient. The case highlights the risks posed when medical staff attend emergency call-outs while impaired, and the safeguards that caught the problem before surgery proceeded.
The incident occurred on 24 March 2024 at a hospital in Brisbane's south, where Mowat had been called to perform a diagnostic laparoscopy on a woman with a suspected ovarian torsion, having already consumed two large glasses of red wine and part of a spirits-based drink. Staff reported her bumping into someone in a corridor, appearing spaced out and swaying, struggling to position herself correctly during preparation, and incorrectly inserting a urinary catheter, leading anaesthetists to have her unscrub and leave; the operation was delayed by 40 minutes while another doctor took over. The tribunal's deputy president, Dearne Firth, ruled the conduct amounted to professional misconduct that fell substantially below expected standards, though the patient was not harmed. Mowat, who resigned after the incident and now works in private practice, described the episode as her "rock bottom" and said she had worked to rebuild her life and career over the following two and a half years.
- Queensland surgeon reprimanded after operating while intoxicated in March 2024
- Colleagues removed her from theatre; patient unharmed, surgery delayed 40 minutes
- Tribunal ruled it professional misconduct; Mowat calls it her "rock bottom"
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Many will feel sympathy for Dr Mowat and see her decision to speak publicly as a responsible act of accountability rather than evasion. They will point out that the hospital's safeguards worked exactly as intended: colleagues recognised the signs of impairment, intervened before she touched a scalpel, and the patient came to no harm. Viewed this way, the case is a story of a health system catching a human failing in time, and of a doctor who has since resigned, faced the tribunal, and spoken openly about a personal low point, which some would argue deserves space for rehabilitation rather than indefinite reputational punishment, particularly if the episode reflects an underlying struggle with alcohol that is better addressed through support than shame alone.
The case against
Others will focus on how serious the risk actually was, arguing that an on-call senior surgeon attending a semi-urgent operation for a suspected ovarian torsion while visibly intoxicated represents a grave breach of patient trust that easily could have ended in harm, regardless of how it happened to be caught. From this perspective, the tribunal's finding of professional misconduct was warranted precisely because doctors carry a heightened duty of care and must be fit to respond when called upon, and the fact that other staff had to intervene mid-preparation shows the system worked only through luck and vigilance, not because the risk was small. They would argue that public accountability and firm regulatory consequences are essential to maintaining trust in emergency medical care, and that sympathy for the doctor's personal difficulties should not overshadow the potential consequences for the patient involved.