A letter has been sent to women who might be affected, advising them that the Kangaroo Island Medical Clinic’s GP anaesthetist is away for an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission hearing and family commitments.

“Despite best efforts of local CEO [at the hospital], Country Health SA has seen fit not to help with a locum,” a clinic spokesman said.

“Hence we have been instructed by CHSA that we cannot deliver babies here this week.”

Babies will not be delivered here between January 26 and February 1.

The letter advised patients that “under these circumstances, you will be requested to make plans in conjunction with doctors at KI Medical Clinic to deliver your baby at a health service on the mainland”.

GPs at the clinic are under investigation by the ACCC after they threatened to boycott on-call services to the local hospital over a dispute about pay and a contract for services.

The ACCC is investigating whether the threat by the six GPs at Kangaroo Island Medical Clinic constituted a breach of the Competition Code of SA. Under the code, GPs are not allowed to collude with other GPs to withdraw their services.

If the GPs are found to have breached the code and are prosecuted, they face fines up to $500,000.

A report about the investigation on australiandoctor.com drew supportive comments from other doctors around the country.

“No doubt doing a great job in an isolated region, and being treated with disdain by the bureaucrats running the hospital, then the Feds step in and order them around with the threat of ACCC,” one doctor said.

“This is a situation where the federal health minister should see that it is sorted out via a mediation process on the island,” he said.