Ombudsman recommends improvements to how notifications made to harm health practitioners are managed
Today National Health Practitioner Ombudsman, Richelle McCausland, published her independent review into the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency’s (Ahpra) framework for identifying and managing vexatious notifications.
Ombudsman recommends improvements to how notifications made to harm health practitioners are managed
Today National Health Practitioner Ombudsman, Richelle McCausland, published her independent review into the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency’s (Ahpra) framework for identifying and managing vexatious notifications. The review was commenced at Ahpra’s invitation to examine whether the framework has been effective, or if it has had any unintended consequences. The report outlines that the framework is the first of its kind in Australia’s health regulatory landscape.
The Ombudsman made 17 recommendations to improve the framework and its application, and strengthen how Ahpra manages notifications in cases involving domestic and family violence allegations and unreasonably persistent notifiers.
“Many health practitioners have told us that having a notification made about them is distressing. My recommendations seek to ensure the notifications process remains open and accessible, while also ensuring health practitioners are treated fairly and better protected from groundless notifications that have been made with the intent to cause them harm,” said the Ombudsman, Richelle McCausland.
The Ombudsman has welcomed Ahpra’s acceptance of her recommendations and its development of a plan for implementation. Ahpra’s response is available on its website.
The review supported existing evidence that truly vexatious notifications are rare. It found, however, that allegations that a notification is vexatious were not always recorded by Ahpra, meaning the amount of times the framework should or could have been applied is likely higher than Ahpra reported. The review found that Ahpra should be more transparent about how and when the framework is applied.
The report outlines that Ahpra staff received comprehensive guidance on the framework when it was introduced. However, the review found that Ahpra does not have a tailored or specific process to manage allegations that a notification was made in the context of domestic and family violence. The review also did not find a consistent approach to dealing with unreasonable conduct by notifiers and patterns of repetitive notifications. The Ombudsman recommended that Ahpra strengthens how it manages these types of notifications to help reduce the negative impacts of the notifications process on health practitioners.
“Each notification about a health practitioner needs to be carefully considered to determine if it is necessary for regulatory action to be taken to protect the public. However, Ahpra also needs to ensure that it protects health practitioners, including those experiencing domestic and family violence, from abuse of its processes,” said the Ombudsman.
The report has been endorsed by the Health Chief Executives Forum, and recommendations regarding potential legislative reform have been referred to the Health Workforce Taskforce.
For media enquiries, please contact: media@nhpo.gov.au
