February 2020 Newsletter

Message from the President 

It has now been just over a year since paramedicine became the 15th health profession subject to regulation within the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme. As a result it is also just over a year since the Paramedicine Council of NSW (Council) was established and commenced playing its part in the regulation of paramedics in NSW. As you may be aware a co-regulatory model exists in NSW where complaints against NSW registered health practitioners are dealt with by the relevant council in collaboration with the Health Care Complaints Commission.

As a newly constituted Council, it has been a busy time establishing an understanding of, and implementation of, the various pathways utilised in registered health practitioner complaint management.  This newsletter provides an overview of the purpose of the Paramedicine Council, some of its activities so far and some of the processes involved in managing complaints.

Understandably paramedics can feel nervous about this new system and what happens if someone makes a complaint against them. In every circumstance, where a complaint is being managed, the Council and staff at the HPCA seek to help paramedics understand the process in a supportive, compassionate and transparent way. The purpose of the Council is to protect the public, not to punish paramedics through the complaint management process. To date, paramedics who have engaged with the Council following a complaint have often commented that it was not what they were expecting at all and, despite the circumstances, found it a positive experience.

Finally I would like to recognise the service of our inaugural legal member of Council. Mr Greg McAllan has recently had to resign due to other commitments. Greg has been a key member whose experience has been integral to the effective establishment and operation of Council in its first year. We thank Greg for his service and wish him all the best in his other endeavours. We will announce the new legal member of Council once an appointment has been made.

Alan Morrison

President 

The role of the Paramedicine Council of NSW

Paramedicine Council of NSW members L to R: Cassandra McKenzie, Brian Parsell, Greg McAllan, Peter Lang, Margo Gill, Alan Morrison

The Paramedicine Council of NSW (the Council) is a statutory body established under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NSW). The Council is made up of six members, including four paramedics, a community member and a legal member who are nominated by the NSW Minister for Health and appointed by the NSW Governor. The Council is entirely independent of any employer and has its own procedures for managing complaints and mandatory notifications about registered paramedic practitioners and students in NSW. Our focus is on safe professional practice, maintaining public safety and minimising risk. The Council can act to prevent unsafe practice and has legal powers to enable it to do so.

Who are the Council?

• Mr Alan Morrison – President, Paramedic
• Mr Peter Lang – Deputy President, Paramedic
• Ms Cassandra McKenzie – Paramedic
• Mr Brian Parsell – Paramedic
• Ms Margo Gill – Community member
• Vacant – Australian lawyer

For general enquiries you can contact the Council via email at mail@paramedicinecouncil.nsw.gov.au or phone 1300 197 177. The Council is supported by staff employed by the Health Professional Councils Authority (HPCA).

Council activity

The Council has focused on establishing itself to effectively exercise its regulatory responsibilities. To date approximately 122 complaints have been received, 27 of which were referred to Council for further management. The Council appointed practitioners to its professional member panel through an expression of interest process. Panel members have been invited to participate on panels and hearings as the need arises. Further details on complaints figures were published in the Council’s 2018/19 Annual Report available on the website.

In September last year, key stakeholders including employers, education institutions, unions, professional associations and the National Board were invited to meet the Council. The purpose was to talk about the regulatory structure in Australia, the role of the Council, complaints management in NSW and processes available to the Council. In December last year, the Council also hosted the Council Professional Members forum where professional members who had expressed an interest in being involved in the various Council functions had the opportunity to meet the Council and learn about the various processes they may be involved in.  The Council has also met and collaborated with the Paramedicine Board of Australia on regulatory activities since its establishment and will continue to do so. The Council looks forward to continuing this engagement with the paramedicine community.

How does the Council manage complaints?

The Council works with the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) to manage complaints in NSW. Regardless if a complaint is lodged to the HCCC, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) or the Council – information is shared between us. AHPRA will transfer NSW practitioner complaints (notifications) received to the Council for management. The HCCC and the Council consult on each complaint received to determine the next step in managing the complaint. A complaint can be made about the health, performance or conduct of a registered health practitioner. Any conditions placed on a practitioner by the Council are also notified to AHPRA and practice related conditions are made publicly available on the register of practitioners. Conditions placed on registration apply nationally.

When a complaint is referred to the Council for management, we have different pathways available for managing these different types of complaints. The practitioner will be provided the details of the complaint and asked to respond to it. When managing complaints, we ensure that our assessment and decision making processes are fair and the outcomes result in public protection and safety.

Further information is available on our website:

• How we manage complaints
• A complaint has been made about you
• What do you need to know about our processes

Mandatory reporting

The threshold to trigger a mandatory notification is high. Education providers, health practitioners and their employers must tell AHPRA if they have formed a reasonable belief that a practitioner has behaved in a way that constitutes notifiable conduct. Section 140 of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NSW) defines notifiable conduct.

The Paramedicine Board of Australia has published guidelines for mandatory notifications to provide direction to health practitioners, employers and education providers about the requirements for mandatory reporting. Due to recent changes, a resources page is now available to assist practitioners and notifiers.

Health complaints and impairment

In its first few months of operation the Council has received enquiries about health complaints and impairment. Impairment is defined under the National Law as:

impairment, in relation to a person, means the person has a physical or mental impairment, disability, condition or disorder (including substance abuse or dependence) that detrimentally affects or is likely to detrimentally affect—

(a)  for a registered health practitioner or an applicant for registration in a health profession, the person’s capacity to practise the profession; or

(b)  for a student, the student’s capacity to undertake clinical training—

(i)  as part of the approved program of study in which the student is enrolled; or

(ii)  arranged by an education provider.

The Council has an established pathway to manage complaints about health which is constructive and non-disciplinary. We encourage you to read more about how we manage health complaints on our website, there is also some information about self-notifying if you have a health problem.

We will be publishing case studies specific to the paramedicine profession on our website over the coming months but in the meantime we draw your attention to a relevant case study published by the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

Further information

If there are any topics you would like covered in forthcoming newsletters please email us at mail@paramedicinecouncil.nsw.gov.au.