Newsletter July 2021

President's Message

Welcome to the mid-year issue of the Optometry Council of NSW newsletter. This is my first message to you as Council President and I’m pleased to be back once more with my colleagues on Council protecting the public of NSW.

I want to provide an update on the membership of the Council. In June 2021, we bid farewell to some experienced and supportive Council members. I’d like to acknowledge outgoing members of Council: President, Albert Lee and Practitioner Member, John Davis for their extraordinary legacy of service. I’d also like to thank and acknowledge outgoing Legal Member, Pauline O’Connor. Albert, John and Pauline have been a safe pair of hands throughout the development of the national registration scheme and worked tirelessly to strengthen relationships with the profession and the community. Their wise counsel will be missed.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate and welcome the new members of Council who started their term on 1 July 2021. Legal Member, Catherine Gregory and Deputy President, Isabelle Jalbert. Catherine, Isabelle and I will be joining Judith Hannan, Practitioner Member on Council for the coming three years.

In this issue, in addition to the public consultation on the Shared Code of Conduct, we also look at the promotion of COVID-19 vaccinations and what we can do to uphold our professional obligations by speaking up about disrespectful behaviour and unprofessional conduct in healthcare.

Derek Fails

President, Optometry Council of NSW

Public consultation on the Shared Code of Conduct

The shared Code of Conduct sets out the standards of professional conduct the National Boards expect and is used by Boards to evaluate practitioners’ conduct. Practitioners have a professional responsibility to be familiar with and to apply this code.

The shared code is an important document for the public as it can help them understand what behaviour they can expect from a registered health practitioner and assess whether their care met professional standards.

Twelve of the National Boards, including the Optometry Board of Australia have a shared code of conduct, most in the same form and some with minor variations. National Boards and Ahpra are reviewing the shared code to ensure it stays up-to-date and is an effective regulatory tool that contributes to patient safety. The revised code aims to be relevant and useful for practitioners and more accessible to the public.

The main changes proposed to the code are:

adding principles as an overarching guide
setting high-level expectations which can be supported by further guidance if required
adding content on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and cultural safety
adding guidance about bullying and harassing, vexatious complaints, clinical governance and setting performance targets that could impact on patient safety
reducing repetition by removing some content and blending other content
adding hyperlinks to help the reader source further information.

Click here for further information about the public consultation on the revised shared Code.

Promotion of COVID-19 vaccinations

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) released a joint statement on 17 June 2021 about the promotion of COVID-19 vaccinations to provide further information for health practitioners and other advertisers.

Here are some key points that the statement helps to clarify:

All promotion of COVID-19 vaccines must comply with the TGA’s guidance, including where health practitioners and regulated health service providers offer rewards for COVID-19 vaccination.
Where promotion of COVID-19 vaccines involves advertising of regulated health services it must comply with both the TGA’s guidance and advertising requirements of the National Law.
The TGA’s guidance and the advertising requirements of the National Law do not apply to information about COVID-19 vaccines provided as part of a consultation or treatment.

For more information about how to lawfully communicate about and promote COVID-19 vaccines, please read:

The joint TGA and Ahpra statement: Promotion of COVID-19 vaccinations: further information for healthcare practitioners and other advertisers
TGA guidance on communicating about COVID-19 vaccines
National Boards’ Guidelines for advertising a regulated health service
Further information on the advertising requirements of the National Law on the Ahpra website
National Boards and Ahpra position statement on COVID-19 vaccination.

No place for sexism, sexual harassment or violence in healthcare

On 30 June 2021, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) and the National Boards published a joint statement, No place for sexism, sexual harassment or violence in healthcare to remind registered health practitioners of their professional obligations and encourage speaking up about disrespectful behaviour and unprofessional conduct in healthcare.

The Optometry Council of NSW endorses this statement, sharing the view that respect is a cornerstone of good, professional practice and it is fundamental to the Australian community’s trust in registered health practitioners. The Council strongly holds the position that there is no place for sexism, sexual harassment or gendered violence in healthcare.

The Council’s expectations of registered health practitioner conduct and respectful, professional behaviour, including maintaining appropriate professional boundaries, are set out in the Optometry Board of Australia Code of Conduct. The Council is in full agreement with the Board that practitioners must always treat patients, consumers, students, employees and colleagues with respect. The Council also agrees that practitioners must always communicate professionally and respectfully with and about others, including when using social media.

The Ahpra and National Boards joint statement is available here for your information.