Chris Webster: GP who first raised the alarm about mushroom murderer Erin Patterson forced to close practice

The doctor who first raised the alarm about triple-murderer Erin Patterson and later earned the ire of the medical watchdog for calling her a “crazy b***h” has been forced to suddenly close his practice or face “financial oblivion”.

Chris Webster’s evidence in an 11-week murder trial helped convict Patterson who was found guilty of poisoning her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson with death cap mushrooms.

But his blunt comments about the mushroom killer after the conviction, including sensationally calling her a “disturbed sociopathic nut bag”, saw him hit with restrictions on his ability to practice after they sparked a flurry of complaints from the public and patients at his Leongatha clinic.

Dr Webster now says that his involvement in the Erin Patterson case was “just one chapter in my story” but the punishment meted out by the Medical Board of Australia had contributed to the closure of his clinic.

He was hit with two conditions on his registration, these included undergoing one-on-one education to address “professionalism and ethics, professional communication and privacy and confidentiality” and undertaking monthly mentoring.

Dr Webster told the Herald Sun it was a decision to strip him of his ability to supervise trainee GPs and a lack of support from fellow GPs who refused to limit their bulk-billing which made it no longer viable to run his clinic at a larger scale.

He said the tough decision was made to close his practice, which was made up of 18 GPs, five practice nurses and seven administration and reception staff, to avoid “financial oblivion”.

Staff would be paid their full entitlements, with a small number moving with him to the new “radically downsized” practice.

“Quite a lot of people were not in favour of me and my style,” he told the Herald Sun.

“But patients that were approving of my compassion and skill will continue to see me.

“I’ve got the community’s back and they’ve got mine.

“My books are always open.”

The clinic’s closure has caused chaos in the small town, with patients scrambling to find where else to seek primary medical help.

In a statement, Leongatha doctors and staff said there were number of issues that were affecting the practice in the lead up to Dr Webster shutting the clinic.

“There are a number of complex issues underlying the current situation, including longstanding concerns raised by staff and clinicians regarding workplace safety, governance and the management of the practice by the current owner,” a statement by Leongatha doctors and staff members about the closure reads.

“These concerns have been raised through appropriate external channels and established processes.

“It would not be appropriate to comment further on those matters while they are ongoing.”

Nationals MP Melina Bath said she was working with parliamentary colleagues to assist in ensuring community access to GPs in Leongatha.

What did Dr Chris Webster say about Erin Patterson?

Dr Webster encountered Patterson while he was the on-call doctor at Leongatha Hospital on July 31, 2023, two days after she served a Beef Wellington meal laced with death cap mushrooms to lunch guests.

Dr Webster called triple-0 after Patterson abruptly discharged herself within five minutes of arriving at the hospital, despite medical advice to stay and receive treatment.

At the time, Don and Gail Patterson were in critical condition at Dandenong Hospital and her other guests Ian and Heather Wilkinson were receiving treatment at Leongatha Hospital after consuming the death cap-laced meal.

In an interview with the Herald Sun, Dr Webster revealed he suspected Patterson was a murderer when she told him she purchased the mushrooms used in the deadly meal from Woolworths.

“If she said she picked them, it would have been a very different mindset for me because there would have been an instant assumption it was all a tragic accident.

“But once she said that answer, my thoughts were, ‘holy f**king shit, you f**king did it, you crazy b***h, you poisoned them all”.

“The turning point for me was that moment.”

Patterson, 51, is challenging her murder convictions after being jailed for life in September with a non-parole period of 33 years.