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September 2023 Newsletter
Message from the President
Wow, where has the year gone!
As promised, the Medical Radiation Practice Council (the Council) has hit the ground running, with a number of engagement activities since February.
Attendance and presentations at both Australian Society of Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy (ASMIRT) and Australian and New Zealand Society of Nuclear Medicine (ANZSNM) conferences gave the Council an opportunity to engage with medical radiation practitioners and further our education on the issues affecting our profession currently. Our presentation at ASMIRT by Nadine Thompson, in particular, elicited further discussions with fellow colleagues and showcased our collegial working relationship with the Medical Radiation Practice Board of Australia (MRPBA).
On 13 July 2023, the Council held an event for our stakeholders at the HPCA offices in Pitt Street, Sydney. It was great to be able to invite representatives from MRPBA, NSW and ACT universities, professional organisations, the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) and our Hearing members to attend this face-to-face event. From feedback, the event was well received and, following this success, the Council will endeavour to hold these annually.
Development of our relationship with MRPBA continues, with a joint meeting held 25 September 2023.
And finally, our plans for a rural road show in 2024 are in development, and we’re looking forward to visiting our rural and remote MRPs. More detail will follow, and we welcome you to reach out to the Council to share any topics of interest you would like to see discussed.
Picking up on some of the common themes we’ve seen in recent complaints and discussions at conferences and stakeholder event, we thought it timely to remind MRPs of the scope of practice and CPD obligations as mandated by MRPBA. Please read on for further information.
As always, if you have any questions or are interested in becoming a hearing member, please fill out this survey or reach out via email or through our website.
In the words of Dr Seuss, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
Justine Trpezanovski
President – Medical Radiation Practice Council
NSW fee reduction
Ahpra has issued its registration fees announcement for 2023/24, with a decrease for NSW medical radiation practitioners.
The NSW Minister for Health has approved a lower cost for the NSW complaints component of the fee, paid as part of the national registration fee by NSW Medical Radiation Practitioners from 20 September 2023.
The complaints component has decreased from $35 to $30 for general, provisional and limited registrations, and from $18 to $15 for non-practising registration.
National registration fees for all NSW registered health professionals under the national scheme comprises two components:
- a registration and accreditation components that is independently determined by Ahpra and the relevant National Board; and
- a complaints component that is decided by the relevant NSW Council.
The complaints component is a cost-recovery model not subsidised by other health professions, and is subject to approval by the NSW Minister for Health under section 26A of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NSW).
For further information about the 2023/24 annual registration fee for medical radiation practitioners, visit the Ahpra website.
Cultural Safety Strategy
On 7 June, the Councils and the HPCA launched their joint Aboriginal Cultural Safety Strategy 2023 – 2024. Attendees heard from several guest speakers including Ms Deb Willcox AM, NSW Health Deputy Secretary, Health System Strategy and Patient Experience.
The Strategy aims to improve the experiences of Aboriginal people who interact with the NSW healthcare and regulatory system through:
- strengthening cultural safety within the NSW regulatory system
- increasing the participation of Aboriginal people on Councils, in the HPCA workforce, and in the NSW regulatory system, and
- collaborating with our stakeholders to promote best practice in cultural safety, led by the expertise and experiences of Aboriginal people.
The Strategy was developed by the Councils and HPCA Aboriginal Cultural Safety Working Group. The group is comprised of members of the Councils, community members, and representatives from the Ministry of Health's Centre for Aboriginal Health. The Group comprises 50% Aboriginal membership and the Strategy is informed by their generously shared expertise, lived experience and knowledge.
Scope of Practice
The MRPBA has clearly set the professional capabilities for MRPs and these exist with five key domains, with an additional sub-domain for each of the MRP professional divisions: diagnostic radiography, nuclear medicine and radiation therapy.
The professional capabilities identify the knowledge, skills and professional attributes needed to safely practice their division of medical radiation practice. It is essential for all MRPs to understand their scope of practice and how this impacts their professional indemnity insurance and regulatory responsibility.
The Council has seen several complaints recently which bring into question the appropriateness of aspects of the practice of the MRP. These have included the administration of medications (not oral or IV contrast) and performing tasks that would normally be performed by another healthcare professional, without the MRP having adequate training, assessment and documentation, and without audit occurring to support this extended or advanced scope of practice.
Where a complaint is made regarding the practice of any MRP and there is a clear deviation from the professional capabilities, the MRP needs to be aware that this practice is likely not to be covered by their professional indemnity insurer and can result in action needing to be taken by the Council from a regulatory perspective to ensure public safety is not compromised.
If you are not certain that a task that your employer is expecting you to do is part of your scope of practice then you should refer to the professional capabilities for medical radiation practice. If you cannot draw a clear correlation between the requirements of any task being asked of you and the professional capabilities for medical radiation practice, then it is essential to bring this to the attention of your employer. The Council would like to support and empower all MRPs to advocate for safe practice.
Continuing Professional Development
The Council has recently dealt with a number of complaints relating to practitioner engagement and compliance with CPD guidelines as set out by Ahpra and the MRP Board. As such, we felt it timely to revisit this topic.
Each year, when renewing our professional practitioner registration, we are asked to confirm that we have met our CPD obligations as per the guidelines available at the link below. In essence, we are required to complete a total of 60 hours of CPD over a three-year period (a triennium).
The current triennium runs from 1 December 2021, through to 30 November 2024. Of those 60 hours, 35 must be classified as ‘substantive CPD’, meaning that they need to be directly related to our area of practice rather than of a more general nature. During any one year of the triennium, we must accrue at least 10 of the 60 hours, meaning that the total hours cannot all be squeezed into one, or even two years. This is to ensure that we are all continually learning and keeping up to date with new developments in our fields.
The positive effect of ensuring compliance with our registration standards, aside from the obvious benefit of being eligible for renewal to keep practicing, is that it sets us up to be lifelong learners, and this benefits our patients in terms of improved practice as well as developing our sense of professional identity as valuable partners in the healthcare environment.
To assist in good record-keeping, there is a word template available at the link below which provides space for the required reflection. Together with this, we should keep a copy of the attendance certificate, email or some kind of evidence that we have completed the CPD activity. This is important for audit purposes, as each year Ahpra conducts a random audit of around 10% of registered practitioners to ensure their compliance with registration standards.
Following COVID-19, there is a wide range of recorded webinars and lectures provided by equipment vendors, contrast companies and educational organisations available online, many of which are free and would be considered substantive CPD. For those of us who are time-poor, registering for these events means that, even if we can’t watch them live, we can often access the recordings which can be viewed at times that fit in with our own schedules.
There are also significant benefits in attending meetings and conferences in-person again, now that we can. Aside from opportunities to participate by writing an abstract, presenting or offering to moderate a session, learning about new techniques and networking with colleagues can really benefit our professional development and re-energise our practice.
So, make a commitment to ensure that you have not only complied with your CPD commitments at registration renewal, but that your CPD record-keeping is top-notch. In the event of an audit, the process will be smooth, but the biggest benefit is the re-invigoration of our pursuit of professional knowledge.
