List of Recommendations

Recommendation 1

2.111

The committee recommends that proposed reforms to the National Law to regulate the use of the title ‘surgeon’ undergo broad consultation and be progressed as a priority by the Ministerial Council.

Recommendation 2

2.113

The committee recommends that AHPRA and the national boards introduce a more flexible re-registration model across professions that would enable health practitioners to more easily re-enter the workforce after a period of absence.

Recommendation 3

2.115

The committee considers there is a substantial case for regulation of currently unregulated professions including social workers, aged care workers and personal care workers and recommends the Ministerial Council consider whether these professions should be included in the National Regulation and Accreditation Scheme.

Recommendation 4

3.159

The committee recommends that AHPRA undertakes urgent and immediate action in relation to supervisory failures and ensure that individual cases are not indicative of a systemic failure.

Recommendation 5

3.160

The committee recommends that all supervisors should have a direct point of contact within AHPRA and that this point of contact should be made available prior to any contractual arrangements being made, as well as throughout the entire supervisory period.

Recommendation 6

3.164

The committee recommends AHPRA reviews and simplifies its published information about notifications and other complaint pathways.

Recommendation 7

3.165

The committee recommends that AHPRA and the national boards undertake education and awareness activities, explaining notifications and other complaints pathways, with health practices and services.

Recommendation 8

3.167

The committee recommends that the Ministerial Council considers reforms to the National Law to enable health practices and services to be referred low risk notifications to be dealt with in the first instance, and that AHPRA and the national boards have discretion to refuse these matters on that ground.

Recommendation 9

3.168

The committee recommends that notifications accepted by AHPRA be limited to clinical issues relating to patient safety.

Recommendation 10

3.171

The committee recommends that AHPRA and the national boards consider improving the notifications data it collects and publishes to better understand where protracted timeframes are experienced and the reasons for any delays.

Recommendation 11

3.174

The committee recommends that AHPRA and the national boards undertake an analysis of the cause of protracted notifications timeframes and identify ways to further improve timeliness. Consideration should be given to:

what further decision-making powers of the national boards can be delegated to AHPRA;

the allocation of resources to deal with increasing volumes of notifications; and

establishing timeframes for aspects of the notifications process.

Recommendation 12

3.177

The committee recommends that AHPRA and the national boards develop and publish a strategy for identifying systemic issues and working with stakeholders to proactively address areas of concern.

Recommendation 13

4.86

The committee recommends that the Ministerial Council agrees to remove the current mandatory reporting requirements and align the approach with the Western Australian model.

Recommendation 14

4.90

The committee recommends that AHPRA and the national boards develop and fund a comprehensive strategy for providing tailored support for the notifications process to practitioners in all regulated professions.

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