Date: April 2025
The RACGP has provided a submission to the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman’s (NHPO) investigation into delay and procedural safeguards for practitioners who are subject to immediate action.
Immediate action refers to a National Board’s decision to take action regarding a health practitioner’s registration if it reasonably believes that a health practitioner poses a serious risk to the public, and/or it is in the public interest to do so. Action may include, for example, placing conditions on a practitioner’s registration or suspending the practitioner’s registration.
Health practitioner complainants have raised a range of concerns with the Ombudsman related to immediate action processes. A common theme is practitioners expressing frustration with the time taken to receive an outcome for the matter that led to immediate action being taken, and a lack of communication about its progress.
The RACGP’s submission reflects these concerns about timeliness and the subsequent impact on practitioner wellbeing. It states that we fully recognise immediate action is necessary in some cases, but the subsequent investigation and resolution of these matters is taking far too long.
Read the submission
Submission to the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman – Ahpra and National Boards’ management of matters where a health practitioner is subject to immediate action (PDF)