September 2024

In this month's issue:

• Chair’s message
• Medical Board of Australia news
  • Remember to renew your registration 
  • Just a few weeks left to do the 2024 Medical Training Survey 
  • Expedited specialist pathway closer 
  • Vacancies on three state Medical Boards 
  • Latest registration data published 
• Consultations
• What do you think about health checks for late-career doctors?
• Independent Accreditation Committee consultation on guidance on developing professional capabilities
• News and alerts
  • New guidance on using AI in healthcare
  • International medical workforce surge under Ahpra’s streamlined registration processes
  • Myths and misconceptions about notifications – how will Ahpra manage a notification about my health?
  • Review of complexity in the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme
• Medical regulation at work
  • Latest tribunal decisions published
• Contacting the Board

Chair’s message

We’re keen to keep late-careers doctors in safe practice and are thinking about possible health checks for doctors from age 70. We want to be supportive, not punitive. We’re not talking about a retirement age. Our complaints data tells us there’s a problem to solve. We’re interested in your thoughts. See the consultation article below.

Dr Anne Tonkin AO
Chair, Medical Board of Australia

Medical Board of Australia news

Remember to renew your registration 

Remember to renew your registration before the end of the month to keep practising and avoid a late fee. Registration renewal is now open for medical practitioners with general, specialist and non-practising registration. Check your inbox for your renewal email from Ahpra, with details and links.

The fee for 2024/25 is $1,027 and $956 in NSW. More information is on the Fees page.

More information is on the Ahpra renewal page and FAQs for medical practitioners on the Medical Board website.

When you renew your registration for 2024 you will need to tell us the name of your CPD home. A list of accredited CPD homes is on the Board’s CPD page.

Apply to renew early and avoid delays at our busiest time, especially if you are making a declaration. Renewal is online – you can pay by credit card or debit card.

Do the MTS when you renew

Doctors in training with general registration can do the Medical Training Survey (MTS) when they renew. Follow the MTS survey link after the workforce survey. Interns and international medical graduates (IMGs), please follow the MTS link in your email from the Medical Board to do the survey.

Download your registration certificate and tax invoice

Your registration details will be updated on the Register of practitioners when your renewal application is finalised. The online register is updated every day and is the safest and most timely way to check your registration details.

If you need a copy of your registration certificate or to access your renewal tax invoice, you can print them from the Ahpra online portal after your renewal has been finalised.

What happens if I don’t renew on time?

If you don’t apply to renew your registration by the end of October, your name will be removed from the register of medical practitioners. Your registration will lapse, and you will not be able to practise medicine in Australia. A ‘fast-track’ application can be made, but you cannot practise until it is processed and the national register is updated. This can take time and will affect your ability to practise medicine in the meantime.

Just a few weeks left to do the 2024 Medical Training Survey 

There’s still time to do the 2024 Medical Training Survey (MTS).

The MTS is run to help doctors in training. MTS data – generated by trainees – is being used across the health sector to improve training. The more trainees doing the MTS, the stronger the data set and the greater the impact

Join more than half your doctor-in-training colleagues and do the 2024 MTS. It’s open until 30 September.

MTS results are collated, published online and publicly accessible, providing the most comprehensive national data-source about medical training.

Past MTS results exposing fault lines in the culture of medicine are now being used across the health sector to drive improvements in medical training. A new question this year separates sexual harassment from other forms of harassment.

Interns and international medical graduates have received their unique survey link in an email invitation from the Medical Board. All other doctors-in-training can access their unique survey link when they renew their medical registration.

For more information on the survey visit MedicalTrainingSurvey.gov.au. Check out the videos of your trainee colleagues on Ahpra’s social media (Facebook) – they’re sharing why they’ll be doing the MTS!

Expedited specialist pathway closer 

The new expedited specialist pathway – for specialist international medical graduates (SIMGs) – is on track to start in October, subject to ministerial approval.

GPs with an international specialist qualification on the Board’s ‘Expedited specialist pathway accepted qualifications list’ will be the first SIMGs eligible for the pathway.

Specialists with accepted international specialist qualifications in anaesthetics, psychiatry, and obstetrics and gynaecology will be next, after specific qualifications for those specialties are added to the accepted list by December 2024.

Jurisdictions are considering which specialties will follow next, based on national workforce priorities.

A rigorous qualifications assessment process, led by the Australian Medical Council (AMC) in consultation with the specialist medical colleges, determines which qualifications will be accepted and determines eligibility for the expedited pathway.

The revised registration standard for specialist registration, which paves the way for SIMG reforms, is now with health ministers for approval.

The Board will publish the expedited specialist pathway accepted qualifications list after health ministers have approved the enabling registration standard.

Transition arrangements are in place for SIMGs who will be eligible for the expedited specialist pathway when it opens. These arrangements apply to SIMGs who are already in the specialist pathway, and to SIMGs who have a current application for limited or provisional registration. More information about transition arrangements is published on the Expedited specialist pathway page.

More details coming in the weeks ahead.

Vacancies on three state Medical Boards 

We are seeking applications for state Medical Boards from registered medical practitioners from Victoria and South Australia, and for community applicants from Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania.

Applications close Sunday 6 October 2024.

To apply and for more information visit Ahpra’s Statutory appointments page.

Latest registration data published

The Board publishes data each quarter on the medical profession. Data are broken down by state and territory and registration type, and for specialists by specialty and field of specialty practice. Visit our Statistics page to view the latest report.

Consultations

What do you think about health checks for late-career doctors?

We’re keen to hear what you think about possible health checks for late-career doctors. The consultation is open now.

Our goal is to keep late-career doctors practising safely for longer, by introducing health checks for doctors aged 70 and over.

Our complaints data shows there is a problem to solve. Complaints about doctors aged 70 and over increase sharply, and adverse outcomes are more common for this group.

We’re consulting on three options – making no change, introducing a general health check, and introducing a high-impact detailed assessment with cognitive testing.

We think it’s hard to defend doing nothing about a preventable problem, and unreasonable to do too much.

Our preference is for a supportive and proportionate approach that gets late-career doctors the healthcare they need.

Early screening through general health checks will help identify any problems early, so they’re easier to manage. The health checks would apply to all late-career doctors, not just GPs.

The proposed health checks reflect advice from a clinical expert group that included geriatricians, GPs, Doctors Health Services, an old-age psychiatrist, audiologist, occupational physician and ophthalmologist. Because it’s a consultation, we’re keen to hear ideas about other better options.

The proposed health checks would include cognitive screening, which we recognise is a tricky issue because doctors have a higher cognitive baseline and screening tools can be quite coarse. We think that initial screening at age 70 will provide a useful baseline.

Any health issues picked up in screening would be handled by the doctor and their GP, with referral to other specialists as indicated. The Board would not usually be involved.

As doctors, we encourage our patients to stay on top of their health issues. The Board is keen for doctors to do the same. We encourage doctors to have their own GP in our code of conduct and we use registration fees to fund the Drs4Drs health service.

Tell us what you think. The consultation closes 4 October 2024.

Read the consultation regulation impact statement on the Current consultation page.

Independent Accreditation Committee consulting on guidance on developing professional capabilities

The Independent Accreditation Committee for the National Scheme is consulting on draft guidance on developing professional capabilities.

The committee provides independent and expert advice on accreditation reform and other National Scheme accreditation matters. You can read more about its focus on the committee’s Ahpra webpage.

The knowledge, skills and professional attributes required to practise as a registered health practitioner in Australia can be called professional capabilities.

The draft guidance and more information about the consulting is on the Accreditation Committee’s Consultation page until 18 October 2024.

News and alerts

New guidance on using AI in healthcare

Are you using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in your practice?

AI is rapidly being integrated into everyday healthcare and has the potential to transform and support new and innovative ways of working. So how do you ensure when using these new technologies that you maintain the continued high standard of care expected by your patients?

Ahpra and National Boards support the safe use of AI in healthcare, recognising the significant potential to improve health outcomes and create a more person-centred health system.

While the potential of AI to improve diagnostics and disease detection has been reported for some time, recent commentary has focused on the benefits for health practitioners for improved care and patient satisfaction, including reducing administrative burdens and health practitioner burnout.

As new tools emerge, so do the unique practical and ethical issues associated with their use in a healthcare setting. Ahpra and the National Boards have developed principles for practitioners to consider when using or looking to integrate AI into their practice.

These principles translate existing obligations in the code of conduct and remind practitioners about what to consider when assessing the appropriate use of AI. Issues to think about include accountability, an appropriate understanding of the tool, transparency of its use, informed consent and ethical and legal issues.

The Meeting your professional obligations when using AI in healthcare guidance is on the Ahpra website. There are also case studies to learn more about what safe and effective use of AI should look like. This guidance will be updated regularly to reflect new developments in AI and share insights from other regulators.

International medical workforce surge under Ahpra’s streamlined registration processes

More international medical practitioners are being registered to work safely in Australia in faster clearance times. There has been a 27 per cent increase in the number of application approvals, with 1,205 more overseas-qualified doctors registered in the 2023-24 financial year than in the previous 12 months. Under Ahpra’s streamlined registration processes, application assessment times have been cut by 26 per cent while ensuring all necessary checks.

Ending the ‘present-in-person’ identity check requirement for international applicants has made a significant impact on clearance times. Having provided sufficient documents to verify their identity while offshore, overseas applicants must submit further evidence of identity once registered and living in Australia. This is required at the time of first renewal of registration.

These figures show that improvements to the registration process are better serving practitioners, health systems and, most importantly, Australian patients.

Read more in the media release on the Ahpra website.

Myths and misconceptions about notifications – how will Ahpra manage a notification about my health?

This is the second article in a series of three on myths and misconceptions about notifications. The first article was Getting the help you need, published in the June Medical Board newsletter.

We know that having a notification made about you can be stressful. Especially if it’s about your health, mental health or problems with drugs and alcohol use.

Ahpra manages health-related notifications in a way that aims to make the process clear, and relatively easy. You’ll be assigned a case officer from our Health Management Team, who will keep you up to date on the progress of your notification and can advise you about the support services that are available to you.

The team is staffed by people who are committed to ensuring that they understand you as an individual and the demands of clinical practice and health care settings.

The aim, if it is safe to do so, is to keep you engaged in work at a level you choose during the investigation process.

Review of complexity in the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme

The Review of complexity in the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme began in May 2024, and is led by the former NSW Health Care Complaints Commissioner Sue Dawson.  

Six terms of reference outline the scope of the review. These will consider:

• how to streamline and harmonise decision-making to improve consistency in regulation
• how to make complaints management more consumer-driven, consistent, accessible and efficient
• how to make tribunal decision-making more consistent
• stewardship of the National Scheme
• how to manage new professions entering the National Scheme, and
• the powers ministers have to direct entities exercising accreditation functions.

Consultation paper 1 was released on 12 September.

The review is expected to be completed by mid-2025.

Medical regulation at work

Latest tribunal decisions published

There are important lessons in tribunal decisions about registered medical practitioners. The Medical Board of Australia refers the most serious concerns about medical practitioners to tribunals in each state and territory. Here are recently published decisions:

• a Victorian neurologist and addiction medicine specialist has been disqualified from re-registering until March 2029 because of sub-standard prescribing of Schedule 8 medications (Medical Board of Australia v Currie)
• a Victorian doctor has had his registration cancelled and been disqualified from reapplying for 15 years after being convicted of raping two patients and inappropriately touching another (Medical Board of Australia v Gopal)
• a South Australian medical practitioner has had his registration cancelled and been disqualified from reapplying for four years for unprofessional sexual conduct, illegal drug use and self-prescribing (Medical Board of Australia v Byrne).

Publication of panel, court and tribunal decisions

Ahpra, on behalf of the 15 National Boards, publishes a record of panel, court and tribunal decisions about registered health practitioners.

When investigating a notification, the Medical Board may refer a medical practitioner to a health panel hearing, or a performance and professional standards panel hearing. Under the National Law, panel hearings are not open to the public. Ahpra publishes a record of panel hearing decisions made since July 2010. Practitioners’ names are not published, consistent with the National Law.

Summaries of tribunal and court cases are published on the Court and tribunal decisions page of the Ahpra website. The Board and Ahpra sometimes choose not to publish summaries, for example about cases involving practitioners with impairment.

In New South Wales and Queensland, different arrangements are in place. More information is available on Ahpra’s website on the How to raise a concern about a health practitioner page.

Contacting the Board

The Medical Board of Australia and Ahpra can be contacted by phone on 1300 419 495.

For more information, see the Medical Board of Australia website and the Ahpra website.

Lodge an enquiry form through the website under Contact us at the bottom of every web page. 

Mail correspondence can be addressed to: Dr Anne Tonkin AO, Chair, Medical Board of Australia, GPO Box 9958, Melbourne, VIC 3001.

More information

Please note: Practitioners are responsible for keeping up to date with the Board’s expectations about their professional obligations. The Board publishes standards, codes and guidelines as well as alerts in its newsletter. If you unsubscribe from this newsletter you are still required to keep up to date with information published on the Board’s website.

Comments on the Board newsletter are welcome, send your feedback and suggestions to newsletters@ahpra.gov.au.

For registration enquiries or contact detail changes, call the Ahpra customer service team on 1300 419 495 (from within Australia).