June 2021 Newsletter

Message from the President 

Welcome to the winter edition of our newsletter. Our lives have continued to be disrupted and reshaped by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our planned 2021 roadshow on 10 June was highly successful with over 260 registered Chinese medicine practitioners in NSW registering for attendance. We will be providing some summarised information from the roadshow in this newsletter.

In the last two months, as part of our regular communication and stakeholder engagement plan, our Council has invited the Chinese Medicine Board of Australia’s Board and Committee members to join our meetings as observers and exchange the regulatory experience in different jurisdictions. Our Deputy President Ms Christine Berle will also be attending the Chinese Medicine Board of Australia’s meeting in June as an invitee to present an update on the co-regulatory model in NSW.

My third and final term as President and member of the Chinese Medicine Council of NSW comes to an end this June.  As many of you are aware, I have been the inaugural practitioner member of the Chinese Medicine Council of NSW since commencement in July 2012 and have since been reappointed for the second term as Member and third term as President of the Council in this State leadership and regulatory role.

None of us got to where we are alone. Whether the assistance we received was obvious or subtle, acknowledging someone’s help is a big part of understanding the importance of saying thank you.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my fellow Council members, Ms Christine Berle (Deputy President), Dr Wenbo Peng (Practitioner Member), Ms Christina Lam (Legal Member) and Mr Stephen Woods (Community Member), for their wonderful work and service in the last three years.  

Constructive interactions and “gap-free” collaboration are one of the best aspects of the work between the Council and the HPCA teams. I would like to thank our HPCA team (including but not limited to), HPCA Director Mr Ameer Tadros, Ms Anne Deans, Mr John Jamieson, Ms Farina Bains, Ms Heather Comino, Ms Svetlana Chernyakova, and Mr Yuvraaj Maharaj for everything that they have done for the Council in this term.

On behalf of the Council, I would also like to thank the HCCC, the HPCA Legal team, the HPCA Monitoring team, in addition to all our Council authorised persons, professional members and lay member, for everything that they have done to support the Council’s regulatory work in this term. As William Shakespeare has said before, to all of you, “I can no other answer make but thanks, and thanks, and ever thanks.”

I am humbled and privileged to have been given the opportunity to serve as the President of the Chinese Medicine Council of NSW in the last three years and as a practitioner member the last nine years. I am also very much looking forward to continuing to serve our community, working and liaising with the new Council members and the outstanding HPCA teams from July in my other role within the National Scheme.

Best wishes for the rest of the year from the Council.

Professional Boundaries

Professional boundaries are a set of guidelines, expectations and rules that set the ethical and technical standards in a social care environment. They set limits for safe, acceptable and effective behaviour by practitioners.

Professional boundaries are needed because there is an imbalance in the practitioner-patient relationship. They are intended to protect both parties.

The Code of Conduct (s8.2) requires you to maintain a clear separation between your professional conduct and any other actions that are not relevant to the therapeutic relationship.

Some good tips to maintain appropriate professional boundaries include:

• Communicate and ensure your patient is informed about the treatment and has given consent
• Set clear expectations with your patient – especially around your role and its limits
• Avoid disclosing personal or unnecessary information
• Be conscious of the patient’s vulnerability
• Consider your actions objectively – how would they be perceived?
• When necessary, be assertive – for example, if a patient invites you to cross a boundary
• Engage in critical self-reflection – can you improve any aspect of your treatment?
• Take whatever steps are prudent to protect yourself, your reputation and your livelihood

Successful and ethical working relationships are based on a clear understanding of what the practitioner role is – and just as importantly – what the role isn't.  Remember that, at all times, your actions should be relevant to the therapeutic relationship.  Maintaining clear professional boundaries will put your patients at ease, protect you and reflect best practice, which are the best ways to promote your skills and the profession as a whole.

Please click here to view the Chinese Medicine profession Code of Conduct.

Non-compliance with conditions on registration

It is important to remember that practitioners should always comply with all conditions imposed upon their registration. If there are conditions imposed and you have not complied with the conditions, the Chinese Medicine Council has the power to undertake further inquiry and investigations as to the nature and seriousness of the breach, including issue a s164G notice for further information.    

Having obtained information as to the breach, the Council may then either record the breach but take no action; send an advisory letter to the practitioner; schedule a compliance interview or; conduct an urgent s150 hearing to assess if there is any urgent risk to the health and safety of the public.   

All breaches of conditions by a practitioner will ultimately be recorded in the practitioner’s file and, where a Council decides to respond to an alleged breach, the decision will be recorded, and the practitioner will be advised in writing of the decision with reasons.