Closed: 6 April 2016
The RACGP is preparing a submission to the Senate Community Affairs References Committee, who are conducting an inquiry into medical complaints processing in Australia.
The Terms of Reference of the Committee are as follows:
- the prevalence of bullying and harassment in Australia’s medical profession;
- any barriers, whether real or perceived, to medical practitioners reporting bullying and harassment;
- the roles of the Medical Board of Australia, the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency and other relevant organisations in managing investigations into the professional conduct (including allegations of bullying and harassment), performance or health of a registered medical practitioner or student;
- the operation of the Health Practitioners Regulation National Law Act 2009 (the National Law), particularly as it relates to the complaints handling process;
- whether the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme, established under the National Law, results in better health outcomes for patients, and supports a world-class standard of medical care in Australia;
- the benefits of ‘benchmarking’ complaints about complication rates of particular medical practitioners against complication rates for the same procedure against other similarly qualified and experienced medical practitioners when assessing complaints;
- the desirability of requiring complainants to sign a declaration that their complaint is being made in good faith; and
- any related matters.
The RACGP is seeking your feedback regarding the medical complaints handling process in Australia, including any further information you feel is relevant to this inquiry.
All comments and feedback received will be treated confidentially.
Further information regarding this inquiry can be accessed from this website.