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July 2021 Newsletter
Message from the Outgoing Council President
Welcome to the mid-year newsletter of the Medical Radiation Practice Council of NSW.
I have been privileged to serve as a practitioner member and inaugural President of the Council for a nine-year term. This term has seen many changes from the formation of a newly created Council to the progression through regulatory change. Above all, the core principle of the role of Council is to protect the public by regulating registered health practitioners. To support individual practitioners to provide good healthcare is rewarding and focuses on safe professional practice. The role of Council is not to punish or discipline practitioners but to ensure professional standards are upheld, and remedial action is undertaken. The last 18 months has been challenging for all, but it has created many strong teams focused on providing excellent healthcare. We are all stronger when we lift each other up to practise within an ethical and safe environment.
I would like to farewell and acknowledge the outgoing members of Council who have also completed a nine-year term, Karen Jovanovic and Warren Stretton. Karen has served as Deputy President of the Council and has been an invaluable source of knowledge and support, always ready to step up when required. Warren has served the community well as a representative and his financial knowledge and leadership on the financial considerations of the Council have been much appreciated.
I would also like to welcome reappointed and newly appointed members to the Council effective from 1 July 2021.
- Justine Trpezanovski – Reappointed Practitioner Member and newly appointed President
- Nadine Thompson – Reappointed Practitioner Member and newly Deputy President
- Gregory Ross – Reappointed Legal Member
- Sheryl Foster – New and returning Practitioner Member
- Anthony Buxton – New Practitioner Member
- Prudence Warrilow – New Community Member
Tracy Vitucci
Outgoing President
Medical Radiation Practice Council of NSW
Public consultation on the Shared Code of Conduct
The Council has recently made submissions in response to the public consultation paper for feedback on a draft revised shared Code of Conduct.
The shared Code 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 Medical Radiation Practice 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 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
Last week 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 Medical Radiation Practice 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 Medical Radiation Practice 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 at all times 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.
