Summary
Date: 3 May 2021
The administration of the Health Practitioner National Law has been subject to a number of reviews, including previous Senate inquiries.
The RACGP's response to the most recent inquiry identified outstanding issues that had not been resolved in previous inquiries, namely the communication, transparency and timeliness of the complaints mechanism, and the importance of appropriate recognition of the impacts of assessment and investigation on a practitioner’s mental health.
A representative of the RACGP gave evidence at the 8 July 2021 Senate hearing, and took several questions on notice on ways Ahpra can improve processing of notifications against medical practitioners, and how to better support practitioners in rural and remote areas.
The RACGP’s response highlights data gaps in Ahpra’s annual reporting on notifications received against medical practitioners, recommends investing in better education and induction for overseas trained doctors newly arrived to the Australian health system to prevent the incidence of notifications, and reiterates calls for improved transparency, communication, timeliness and procedural fairness in Ahpra’s processing of notifications.