Anek's story

Anek contacted our office to make a complaint about Ahpra and a National Board’s handling of a notification he made about a practitioner. Anek explained that he believed Ahpra had taken too long to finalise the notification and had been unresponsive to his phone calls and emails. Anek emphasised that he did not receive a notification outcome letter from Ahpra and he was dissatisfied with the Board’s decision to not take regulatory action against the practitioner.

What we found

Our office transferred Anek’s complaint to Ahpra to provide it with an opportunity to quickly resolve his concerns about the handling of the notification. Ahpra provided a response that apologised for not finalising Anek’s notification within its usual timeframes. Ahpra also sought to reassure Anek that the Board’s decision to not take regulatory action against the practitioner was made in line with the National Law. 

Following Ahpra’s complaint response, we conducted preliminary inquiries to determine if an investigation was warranted. We found that Ahpra and the Board did not follow certain requirements of the National Law. 

The National Law required the Board to consult with a health complaints entity about Anek’s matter to reach agreement about whether the matter would be handled by the Board or the health complaints entity. Both parties agreed the Board would handle Anek’s concerns. 

Under the National Law, this meant that the Board and the health complaints entity also had to attempt to reach agreement on the action the Board was to take in relation to the notification. We found that this did not occur in relation to Anek’s matter due to an administrative oversight by Ahpra.

Complaint outcome

Ahpra agreed to take steps to consult with the health complaints entity about Anek’s matter to rectify the issue we identified. We asked Ahpra to advise our office of the outcome of the consultation process, including any impact on the outcome of Anek’s notification. We explained to Anek that, following the consultation process and any potential changes to the outcome of his notification, he would be welcome to contact our office with any new or outstanding concerns.

Ahpra confirmed that the health complaints entity retrospectively agreed to the Board’s original decision. We suggested Ahpra contact Anek to explain the error that occurred, the steps it had taken to rectify the error and the updated outcome of his notification. Ahpra contacted Anek and provided this information to him.