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April 2024 Newsletter
Message from the President
Welcome to the Medical Radiation Practice Council of NSW’s April 2024 newsletter.
The Council has certainly been busy in the first quarter of 2024. Alongside our important and privileged work of keeping the public safe and helping practitioners be the best health professionals they can be, we have also been mapping out stakeholder engagement ideas for 2024 and beyond.
Council members are planning on attending two conferences this year: the Australian and New Zealand Society of Nuclear Medicine Annual Scientific Meeting from 26 to 28 April in Christchurch, and the Australian Society of Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy’s 2024 conference from 9 to 12 May in sunny Darwin. We’re really looking forward to engaging with our colleagues.
Later this year, we are planning on running another stakeholder engagement session building on our inaugural meeting last year. We will also hopefully organise a roadshow to engage with some of our rural practitioners. More information will be sent out as these continue to progress.
One of our main goals this year is to engage with universities and provide students with an overview and real-world examples of regulation and notifications that will hopefully help inform them as they begin their clinical placements or finish their university journey. This will take the form of some face-to-face engagement as well as pre-recorded sessions.
Finally, we extend an invitation out to all our practitioner members especially in the Nuclear Medicine and Radiation Therapy fields to apply through our EOI process and join our hearing and panel member cohort. These incredibly important people help support the Council with professional experience and being involved with our panels that are required for the management of some of our notifications among other functions. Please go to the EOI page for further information on the process.
Please enjoy the rest of the newsletter and we look forward to catching up with some of you at our engagement sessions throughout 2024.
Justine Trpezanovski
President – Medical Radiation Practice Council
Connection, collaboration and learning: The inaugural HPCA and NSW Councils Conference
Friday 12 April saw the Health Professional Councils Authority (HPCA) and NSW Heath Professional Councils (the Councils) successfully deliver their first joint all Councils Conference. A diverse collection of speakers and panellists across health regulation came together in Sydney to discuss and explore the latest regulatory themes, challenges and opportunities in the NSW co-regulatory landscape.
“Thank you to all presenters, panel members and attendees for participating in the inaugural HPCA and NSW Councils Conference, and to everyone involved in making this event a success. The opportunities provided by this conference to engage with a broad range of stakeholders will surely assist us in maintaining public safety and confidence in the practice of regulated professions in NSW,” said Ameer Tadros, Director, HPCA.
Annual report
For the 2022/23 reporting period, the annual report for our Council is included in the joint report with the other health professional councils of NSW.
The Councils’ joint annual report has two parts:
Part 1
Information about all councils, including their strategic directions, activities, performance and financial results.
Part 2
Financial information that is specific to our Council, including audited financial statements for each council.
Managing difficult patients - de-escalation
Dealing with difficult patients requires listening, empathy and calmness. When there are signs of anger or verbal aggression it is important to stay calm and be mindful that anger may be a sign that the person is in distress, experiencing fear or frustration. Remember that it is not possible to reason, or problem solve with someone who is enraged. Effective communication skills are the key to settling, resolving and de-escalating a situation.
It is not your job to stop the person being angry, but the below strategies may help to make the person feel calmer. It is only then that you can look at how to deal with the situation and their concerns.
Listen to what the issue is and the person's concerns.
Offer reflective comments to show that you have heard what their concerns are.
Wait until the person has released their frustration and explained how they are feeling.
Look and maintain appropriate eye contact to connect with the person.
Incline your head slightly, to show you are listening and give you a non-threating posture.
Nod to confirm that you are listening and have understood.
Express empathy to show you have understood.
Mandatory notifications
By law, registered health practitioners, employers and education providers must make a mandatory notification in some circumstances. Mandatory notifications help to protect the public by ensuring that Ahpra and the national board are alerted to any potential risks to public safety, so that appropriate safety nets can be put in place.
Section 140 of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NSW) defines notifiable conduct.
Notifications about registered health practitioners with a principal place of practice within NSW are managed by the Medical Radiation Practice Council of NSW in collaboration with the Health Care Complaints Commission.
Understanding when to make a mandatory notification and when not to, is an important way you can help to protect the public and support your colleagues.
Notice of certain events
In accordance with the law, registered health practitioners must advise Ahpra or the Medical Radiation Practice Council, within 7 days of becoming aware of a relevant event or change in their status in relation to the following events:
