President's Message

It would be remiss of me not to start by acknowledging the current challenging climate we are all facing in the COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you in advance for your contribution to treating and protecting the community in the face of this virus.

In these unprecedented times, we are all forced to adapt and change daily, sometimes sooner. Like everyone else, Council is adapting to ‘social distancing’ and ‘flattening the curve’. We have worked to be nimble and have almost entirely moved to online access for hearings, meetings and events.

STOP PRESS: COVID-19 Resource Kit
 

The Council recognises the difficulty faced by many practitioners navigating the shifting landscape and sometimes conflicting information about COVID-19.

Given the critical role of doctors in responding to the evolving COVID-19 pandemic, the Medical Council has compiled resources to assist. The Commonwealth Department of Health and the NSW Ministry of Health has produced a number of resources for health professionals, including fact sheets and guidelines.

For General Practitioners, RACGP has also a central page that addresses many areas of concern related to the Coronavirus and COVID-19. For those concerned about the medico-legal aspect of the pandemic, we suggest Avant’s Frequently Asked Questions guide.

If the Medical Council calls, will I end up suspended?

A number of NCAT decisions have been featured in recent editions. However, most practitioners who come to the attention of the Medical Council do not end up at the Tribunal. We explore a more common practitioner interaction with the Council – a Performance Assessment – what is it, how is it established and why are they held?

Pathway to a Performance Assessment

When a complaint about a practitioner is referred to the Council, a sub-committee (that includes medical practitioners and lay members) assess the complaint. The sub-committee considers the complaint, a practitioner’s complaint history, the nature of their current practise and their response to the complaint. If the complaint raises concerns that areas of the practitioner’s performance are below the standard reasonably expected of a doctor of an equivalent training or experience, the practitioner will be asked to attend a Performance Assessment.

Changes to mandatory notification requirements in effect from 1 March

Amendments to the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (National Law) requirements on mandatory notifications came into effect on 1 March 2020.

The amendments affect the mandatory reporting obligations for treating practitioners.

Are you guilty of making these errors when giving vaccines? 2

The Medical Council has received an increasing number of complaints from patients whose doctors have made preventable errors during vaccine administration. Although some of these errors are much more serious than others, good practice should ensure that no errors them occur. This article provides a quick and easy guide to good vaccination practice. 

Complaints, clinical care and communication: Take away messages from the Annual Report

In the 2018/19 financial year, the Medical Council received 2,518 complaints about 2,051 doctors – just under 7% of registered medical practitioners in NSW.

Complaints cover a variety of issues and can be made by not only the patient involved, but also by their family and friends, as well as your colleagues and workplace.

News bites 

Meet our new Council Member!

We are delighted to announce Ms Margaret Piper AM has joined the Medical Council as a lay member and nominee of Multicultural NSW.  Margaret has extensive experience in the refugee sector and is a member of the Multicultural NSW Advisory Board and the Joint Partnership Working Group.  Margaret is also a consultant to various state and federal government agencies on policy, capacity building and program planning.

Thank you for your contributions

Thank you to those doctors who took a moment to complete our social media survey. We have taken on board the feedback provided and look forward to sharing some exciting news in this space later in the year.

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