Karim’s story

Karim’s legal representative contacted our office about the handling of notifications he had made about two health practitioners relating to care he had received while in hospital. Ahpra’s management of the notifications was complicated and had gone on for several years. Karim told us he was unhappy with the Board’s decision to take no further action in relation to these notifications. He was concerned the Board had not appropriately considered all the information he had provided. Karim was also dissatisfied with delays and communication issues throughout Ahpra’s handling of the notifications.

After considering Karim’s concerns, our office began an investigation into the handling of the two notifications.

What we found

Our investigation found that it was reasonably open to the Board to take no further action after considering the notifications. Ahpra and the Board had thoroughly outlined the information it had considered, and the reasons for the Board deciding to take further action.

However, our investigation found that Ahpra’s handling of the notifications over several years could have been better. We found that Ahpra did not meet its obligations under the National Law to provide Karim’s nominated representatives with written investigation updates at least every three months.

There were also broader communication issues. Ahpra did not respond to Karim’s correspondence in a timely way, and sometimes did not respond at all. There was also delay in progressing the notifications, and new information Karim provided to Ahpra after the closure of the notifications could have been handled more appropriately.

Complaint outcome

Our office acknowledged that Ahpra has made a number of changes since Karim’s matters were finalised to minimise the risk of the identified issues occurring again in the future. This included implementing a policy for managing new information received after a notification has been closed, and the introduction of its service charter.

However, our office provided feedback to Ahpra to remind it of the importance of providing regular written updates to notifiers when notifications are being investigated. We also provided feedback about the importance of communicating with notifiers to seek clarifying information about notifications.