International recognition for patient safety champion

23 Aug 2018

Medical Board of Australia Chair, Dr Joanna Flynn AM, has been honoured with an international award for regulatory excellence from the Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation (CLEAR).

The prestigious award recognises an individual who has made an outstanding contribution of service and commitment to enhancing occupational or professional regulation, regulatory processes, consumer or public protection.

The award cites Dr Flynn’s many roles in medical regulation, her understanding of the importance of engagement with the medical profession and the community it serves, her commitment to public protection and to building fair and transparent processes founded on the principles of natural justice.

AHPRA CEO Martin Fletcher said the award recognised Dr Flynn’s distinguished 30-year contribution to professional regulation, as a champion of patient safety.

‘Dr Flynn has earned a reputation internationally for her wisdom, integrity, decisiveness, intelligence, insight and compassion. She has a profound belief that well-founded trust must be the basis of the relationship between patients and their doctors, relentless in her focus on protecting patients, and on engaging with the profession and the community to strengthen and improve medical regulation in Australia,’ Mr Fletcher said.

Dr Flynn retires from the Medical Board on 31 August 2018, after serving nine years as Chair. She was involved in state based medical regulation as a Board member and later as Chair of the Medical Practitioners Board of Victoria from 1989 to 2007 and served as President of the Australian Medical Council from 2003 – 2008, having been a Council member since 2000.

AHPRA Agency Management Committee Chair Michael Gorton AM said the award recognised Dr Flynn’s outstanding contribution to health practitioner regulation in Australia.

‘Dr Flynn has been a leader in the National Scheme and driven substantial medical regulatory reform and innovation. The CLEAR award recognises her enduring legacy, as well as her leadership of many multi-profession initiatives that have strengthened health practitioner regulation across the National Scheme,’ AHPRA Agency Management Committee Chair Michael Gorton AM said.

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