Medical Radiation Practice Board of Australia

2015/16 Annual Report Summary

At a glance: Regulating medical radiation practitioners in 2015/16

This annual report summary provides a snapshot of our work regulating more than 15,000 registered medical radiation practitioners in the financial year to 30 June 2016.

A more detailed profile, encompassing data relating to all 14 National Boards in Australia, is published in AHPRA and the National Boards’ 2015/16 annual report

About this report

This report provides a profession-specific view of the Medical Radiation Practice Board of Australia’s work to manage risk to the public and regulate the profession in the public interest in 2015/16.

The Board has worked in close partnership with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) to provide all Australians with a safe, qualified and competent workforce under the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (the National Scheme).

Information included in this report is drawn from the data published in the 2015/16 annual report by AHPRA and the National Boards, and was correct as at 30 June 2016.

Whenever possible, historical data are provided to show trends over time, as well as comparisons between states and territories.

For a wider context, and to compare the profession against national data from all 14 professions regulated by National Boards under the National Scheme, this report should be read in conjunction with the 2015/16 annual report. You can download the report.

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Message from the Chair, Medical Radiation Practice Board of Australia

This report outlines the work of the Medical Radiation Practice Board of Australia in 2015/16, with data about decisions and outcomes relating to the registration and regulation of medical radiation practitioners.

The Board makes decisions on applications for registration, including from overseas-trained practitioners, as well as developing national standards, codes and guidelines for medical radiation practitioners.

We also approve accreditation standards, accredit courses of study and fund accreditation activities required under the National Law. These activities are carried out by the Accreditation Committee established by the Board. We would like to thank the Accreditation Committee for its tireless work throughout the year to ensure that practitioners have the knowledge, skills and professional attributes necessary to practise the profession in Australia.

The Board also appreciates the dedicated support provided by AHPRA staff in the national and state and territory offices. It is when a registered health practitioner does not meet the accepted standards that regulation matters most. At these times, the Board and AHPRA work together to assess and, if necessary, do what needs to be done to manage risk and keep patients safe.

Members of the National Board in 2015/16

• Mr Neil Hicks (Chair)
• Ms Mary Edwards
• Ms Belinda Evans (until 31 December 2015)
• Ms Marcia Fleet
• Mr Christopher Hicks
• Ms Robyn Hopcroft
• Mr Mark Marcenko
• Professor Stephan Millett
• Mr Travis Pearson
• Ms Tracy Vitucci
• Mr Roger Weckert
• Ms Rosemary Yeo (until 29 July 2015)

During 2015/16, the Board was supported by Executive Officer Adam Reinhard.

More information about the work of the Board, including codes, guidelines and information on registration standards, can be found on the Board website.

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Message from the Agency Management Committee Chair and the AHPRA CEO

Since the National Scheme began six years ago, AHPRA has worked in partnership with the National Boards to ensure that the community has access to a safe and competent health workforce across 14 registered health professions Australia-wide.

We rely on the expertise and insights of the National Boards to make decisions about the 657,621 health practitioners currently registered in Australia in the interests of the Australian public. It’s a role that Board members commit to with dedication and passion, and the community can be assured that its safety is always their number-one priority.

As at 30 June 2016, there were 15,303 registered medical radiation practitioners, who represent just over 2% of the total registered health workforce.

Overseeing the registration and regulation of the profession is the Medical Radiation Board of Australia, with valuable input from professional and community groups. Together, they ensure that practitioners are kept up to date with their responsibilities under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (the National Law), as in force in each state and territory.

The Board upholds the values of the National Scheme by taking a risk-based approach to regulatory decision-making and policy implementation, with a continued focus on finding ways to improve effectiveness, efficiencies and timeliness.

Cross-profession collaboration played a major role for the Board this year, as it consulted with the 13 other Boards in the National Scheme and their New Zealand counterpart, the Medical Radiation Technologists Board, to identify best practice for processes around the management of complaints.

We’d like to thank the Board members, and members of its independent accreditation committee, for their continued commitment to ensuring a competent and flexible health workforce that meets the current and future health needs of the community.

We look forward to continuing to work in partnership with the Board.

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Year in review: Medical Radiation Practice Board of Australia

In 2015/16, the Board worked to lower registrant fees, released new registration standards and collaborated with other National Boards to increase efficiencies around the complaints process.

In September 2015, the Board announced it would reduce registration renewal fees to $180. This fee is lower than the average registration fees that existed prior to national registration. The Board has planned for a deficit budget over the next three to five years, with the aim of returning equity back to registered practitioners.

Our continued focus is on both time and cost efficiency. Beginning in June 2016, we reduced the number of face-to-face Board meetings to six per year. This is expected to reduce Board-managed costs by approximately 30%.

The Board has agreed to be part of a crossprofessional committee on immediate-action matters and is waiting for the efficiency and financial dividends that are intended to flow from the model to be developed by AHPRA.

New registration standards for continuing professional development and professional indemnity insurance arrangements began in 2015/16. These standards were developed collaboratively with other National Boards and recognise the benefits of consistent arrangements across health professions.

In February 2016, the Board used its examination for the first time to assist in risk-based regulatory decision-making. The exam can be used in a number of scenarios, but always with the intent of enabling practitioners to demonstrate that they are competent and safe to practise. The Board has also been working collaboratively with the equivalent New Zealand Board (the Medical Radiation Technologists Board) to facilitate greater alignment with the requirements for registration for medical radiation practitioners in both countries.

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Data snapshot: Regulation at work in 2015/16

The profession in brief

• The medical radiation practitioner registrant base grew by 2.9% year on year, to 15,303 in 2015/16.
• New South Wales (NSW) was the principal place of practice for most of these practitioners (5,089); the Northern Territory (NT) was home to the least (112).
• The age bracket with the most practitioners was 25–29 (3,053 registrants).
• 1,441 practitioners were under 25 years of age; 17 were aged 75 or over.
• Women comprised 68% of the profession.

About our data

Data in this Board summary are drawn from the 2015/16 annual report, published by AHPRA and the National Boards. Data relating to medical radiation practitioners have been extracted from national source data that include all 14 health professions regulated under the National Law.

In the following pages, you’ll find registration data, including registrant numbers by age and principal place of practice, as well as data about notifications (complaints or concerns) received about medical radiation practitioners in the financial year to 30 June 2016. Data about statutory offence complaints are also included.

For more data from the 2015/16 annual report by AHPRA and the National Boards, including data on other professions and summary reports by state and territory, go to the annual report website.

Notifications data

Notifications are complaints or concerns that are lodged with AHPRA about registered health practitioners or students practising in Australia.

Our data generally excludes complaints handled by co-regulatory jurisdictions, such as in:

• NSW, where complaints about health practitioners with this state as their principal place of practice (PPP) are not managed by the Board and AHPRA, unless the conduct occurred outside NSW. Complaints about health practitioners where the conduct occurred in NSW are handled by the Health Professional Councils Authority (HPCA) and the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC), and
• Queensland, where complaints are received and managed by the Office of the Health Ombudsman (OHO) and may be referred to AHPRA and the relevant National Board. We are not able to report on all complaints about health practitioners in Queensland because we only have access to data relating to matters referred to us by OHO.

Note that some NSW regulatory data published in this report may vary from data published in the HPCA’s annual report. This is due to subsequent data review by the HPCA after submission of initial data to AHPRA. For more information on how complaints about health practitioners are managed in NSW, and for data about complaints made in the state, please refer to the HPCA website.

For data relating to complaints in Queensland that have not been referred to AHPRA, please refer to the OHO website.

Registration of medical radiation practitioners

The number of medical radiation practitioners registered across Australia was 15,303 as at 30 June 2016, which is 2.9% higher than last year.

Medical radiation practitioners made up 2.3% of all registered health practitioners across the National Scheme. Noting that there are a range of medical radiation practice categories within this profession:

• 95% of the registrant base held general registration to practise, with this cohort of registrants increasing by 4% from the previous year
• 3.4% held provisional registration and are participating in a supervised practice internship while they progress towards being eligible for general registration. This registrant category decreased by 17.5% compared with last year
• less than 0.1% held limited registration, which allows internationally qualified medical radiation practitioners to provide medical radiation services under supervision, and
• 1.5% held non-practising registration and could not practise; a decrease of 5.7% from last year.

At the end of the financial year 2015/16, there were 3,447 registered medical radiation practice students; 15.7% fewer than at the end of 2014/15.

A total of 1,722 new applications were received for registration with the Board; 4.8% less than in the previous year. Of the new applications, 67.4% were for general registration and 4.8% were requests to move to the non-practising register.

See Tables 1–4 for segmentation of registration data about medical radiation practitioners.

As a standard part of the registration process, applicants for initial registration as a health practitioner in Australia must undergo a criminal record check. AHPRA requested 66,698 domestic and international criminal history checks for practitioners across all professions in 2015/16. Of these, 1,728 checks were carried out for medical radiation registrants. The checks resulted in 61 disclosable court outcomes. No conditions or undertakings were imposed on any practitioner’s registration as a consequence.

For source data on criminal history checks, and more registration information across all regulated health professions, refer to the 2015/16 annual report by AHPRA and the National Boards.

Regulation of medical radiation practitioners

Forty-eight notifications were received nationally about medical radiation practitioners (including HPCA data), which was an increase of 54.8% compared to last year. The number of matters received and managed by AHPRA was 36 (excluding HPCA). Notifications about medical radiation practitioners equate to 0.6% of all notifications received by AHPRA (excluding HPCA) this year.

On a national basis, the percentage of registered health practitioners with notifications received during the year was 1.5%. The percentage of all registered medical radiation practitioners with notifications received was 0.3%.

Immediate action was taken by the Board on six matters relating to medical radiation practitioners in 2015/16 (compared with four instances in 2014/15), excluding matters managed by the HPCA in NSW.

A National Board has the power to take immediate action in relation to a health practitioner’s registration at any time, if it believes this is necessary to protect the public. Immediate action limits a practitioner’s registration by suspending or imposing conditions on it, or accepting an undertaking or surrender of the registration from the practitioner or student. This is an interim step that Boards can take while more information is gathered or while other processes are put in place. To take immediate action, the Board must reasonably believe that:

• because of their conduct, performance or health, the practitioner poses a ‘serious risk to persons’ and that it is necessary to take immediate action to protect public health or safety, or
• the practitioner’s registration was improperly obtained, or
• the practitioner or student’s registration was cancelled or suspended in another jurisdiction.

A total of 27 notifications relating to a registered medical radiation practitioner were closed in 2015/16 (excluding HPCA). This represents 0.5% of all matters closed across all professions. Of the closed notifications:

• 11.1% resulted in conditions being imposed or an undertaking accepted by the Board
• 18.5% resulted in the practitioner receiving a caution or reprimand by the Board
• 3.7% resulted in suspension or cancellation of registration, and
• 66.7% resulted in no further action being taken by the Board. No further action is taken when, based on the available information, the Board determines there is no risk to the public that requires regulatory action.

There were 23 open notifications about registered medical radiation practitioners as at 30 June 2016.

There were 110 active monitoring cases (including HPCA). This equates to 1.9% of all monitoring cases across all professions.

Eight new medical radiation-related statutory offence complaints were received by AHPRA during the year. These complaints constitute less than 1% of all statutory offence matters received by AHPRA in 2015/16. All new matters related to title protection concerns. Seven statutory offence matters were considered and closed this financial year.

Statutory offences are breaches of the National Law, committed by registered health practitioners and unregistered individuals. There are a number of offences created under the National Law, including the following:

• unlawful use of a protected title
• performing a restricted act
• holding out (claims by individuals or
organisations as to registration), and
• unlawful advertising.

See Tables 5–14 for segmentation of notifications and statutory offence data relating to medical radiation practitioners.

Want to know more?

For data and analysis relating to all 14 professions in the National Scheme, please refer to the 2015/16 annual report and supplementary data tables published by AHPRA and the National Boards on the annual report website.

Segmentation of data by state and territory is also available.

For more information on the National Law as it applies to each state and territory, see AHPRA's legisltaion.

Table 1: Registrant numbers at 30 June 2016¹

Medical radiation practitioners	ACT	NSW	NT	QLD	SA	TAS	VIC	WA	No PPP2	Total
2015/16	264	5,089	112	3,061	1,161	311	3,740	1,325	240	15,303
2014/15	255	4,957	109	2,938	1,142	301	3,657	1,300	207	14,866
% change from 2014/15	3.50%	2.70%	2.80%	4.20%	1.70%	3.30%	2.30%	1.90%	15.90%	2.90%

Table 2: Registrant numbers by division and state or territory

Division	ACT	NSW	NT	QLD	SA	TAS	VIC	WA	No PPP1	Total 2015/16	Total 2014/15
Diagnostic radiographer	175	3,916	99	2,410	932	232	2,811	1,079	186	11,840	11,496
Diagnostic radiographer and nuclear medicine technologist		1		10	1	1		1		14	15
Diagnostic radiographer and radiation therapist				1			1			2	2
Nuclear medicine technologist	25	422	2	153	80	20	317	66	10	1,095	1,039
Radiation therapist	64	750	11	487	148	58	611	179	44	2,352	2,314
Total 2015/16	264	5,089	112	3,061	1,161	311	3,740	1,325	240	15,303
Total 2014/15	255	4,957	109	2,938	1,142	301	3,657	1,300	207		14,866

Table 3: Registrants by age

Medical radiation practitioners	U-25	25-29	30-34	35-39	40-44	45-49	50-54	55-59	60-64	65-69	70-74	75-79	80+	Total
2015/16	1,441	3,053	2,727	1,924	1,635	1,254	1,068	1,116	731	280	57	17		15,303
2014/15	1,474	3,059	2,569	1,769	1,606	1,199	1,075	1,138	656	257	54	9	1	14,866

Table 4: Registrants by gender

Medical radiation practitioners	ACT	NSW	NT	QLD	SA	TAS	VIC	WA	No PPP1	Total
Total 2015/16	264	5,089	112	3,061	1,161	311	3,740	1,325	240	15,303
Female	176	3,415	72	2,059	850	213	2,500	912	172	10,369
Male	88	1,674	40	1,002	311	98	1,240	413	68	4,934
Total 2014/15	255	4,957	109	2,938	1,142	301	3,657	1,300	207	14,866
Female	165	3,316	69	1,960	852	205	2,450	893	154	10,064
Male	90	1,641	40	978	290	96	1,207	407	53	4,802

Table 5: Notifications received by state or territory¹

Medical radiation practitioners	ACT	NSW2	NT	QLD3	SA	TAS	VIC	WA	No PPP4	Subtotal	HPCA5	Total
2015/16 (PPP)6			1	11	6		13	4	1	36	12	48
2014/15 (PPP)	2			6			10	2	1	21	10	31
2014/15 (Responsible Office)7	2			7			10	2		21	10	31

Table 6: Notifications received by division and state or territory (excluding HPCA)¹

Division	ACT	NSW2	NT	QLD3	SA	TAS	VIC	WA	No PPP4	Total 2015/16	Total 2014/15
Diagnostic radiographer			1	5	6		11	2	1	26	18
Nuclear medicine technologist				2						2	1
Radiation therapist				4				2		6	2
Unknown practitioner5							2			2	0
Total 2015/16 (PPP)6	0	0	1	11	6	0	13	4	1	36
Total 2014/15 (PPP)	2	0	0	6	0	0	10	2	1		21
Total 2014/15 (Responsible Office)7	2		0	7	0	0	10	2			21

Table 7: Percentage of registrant base with notifications received, by state or territory

Medical radiation practitioners	ACT	NSW (including HPCA)1	NT	QLD	SA	TAS	VIC	WA	No PPP2	Total
2015/16 (PPP)3		0.20%	0.90%	0.40%	0.50%		0.30%	0.30%	0.40%	0.30%
2014/15 (PPP)	0.80%	0.20%		0.20%			0.30%	0.20%	0.50%	0.20%
2014/15 (Responsible Office)4	0.80%	0.20%		0.20%			0.30%	0.20%		0.20%

Table 8: Immediate action cases by division and state or territory (excluding HPCA)¹

Division	ACT	NSW2	NT	QLD3	SA	TAS	VIC	WA	No PPP4	Total 2015/16	Total 2014/15
Diagnostic radiographer				1			2	2		5	2
Nuclear medicine technologist										0	1
Radiation therapist				1						1	1
Total 2015/16 (PPP)5	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	2	0	6
Total 2014/15 (PPP)	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	0		4
Total 2014/15 (Responsible Office)6	0		0	2	0	0	0	2			4

Table 9: Notifications closed, by state or territory

Medical radiation practitioners	ACT	NSW	NT	QLD1	SA	TAS	VIC	WA	No PPP2	Subtotal	HPCA3	Total
2015/16 (PPP)4				10			11	5	1	27	11	38
2014/15 (PPP)	2			5		1	8	2	1	19	12	31
2014/15 (Responsible Office)5	3			5		1	9	1		19	12	31

Table 10: Notifications closed, by division and state or territory (excluding HPCA)¹

Division	ACT	NSW	NT	QLD2	SA	TAS	VIC	WA	No PPP3	Total 2015/16	Total 2014/15
Diagnostic radiographer				5			10	2	1	18	17
Nuclear medicine technologist				4						4	1
Radiation therapist				1				3		4	1
Unknown practitioner4							1			1	0
Total 2015/16 (PPP)5	0	0	0	10	0	0	11	5	1	27
Total 2014/15 (PPP)	2	0	0	5	0	1	8	2	1		19
Total 2014/15 (Responsible Office)6	3		0	5	0	1	9	1			19

Table 11: Notifications closed, by division and stage at closure (excluding HPCA)¹

Division	Assessment2	Health or performance assessment3	Investigation	Panel hearing	Tribunal hearing	Total 2015/16	Total 2014/15
Diagnostic radiographer	9	2	6		1	18	17
Nuclear medicine technologist	2	2				4	1
Radiation therapist	1		2		1	4	1
Unknown practitioner4	1					1	0
Total 2015/16	13	4	8	0	2	27
Total 2014/15	7	0	11	0	1		19

Table 12: Notifications closed, by division and outcome at closure (excluding HPCA)¹

Division	Diagnostic radiographer	Nuclear medicine technologist	Radiation therapist	Unknown practitioner2	Total 2015/16	Total 2014/15
No further action3	12	2	3	1	18	10
Health complaints entity to retain					0	1
Caution	4				4	3
Impose conditions	1	2			3	4
Reprimand	1				1	1
Suspend registration			1		1	0
Total 2015/16	18	4	4	1	27
Total 2014/15	17	1	1	0		19

Table 13: Active monitoring cases at 30 June 2016, by stream (including HPCA)¹

Medical radiation practitioners	Total 2015/16	Total 2014/15
Conduct	1	2
Health	7	9
Performance	1	5
Prohibited practitioner/student	2	0
Suitability/eligibility2	99	519
Total	110	535

Table 14: Statutory offence complaints received and closed, by type of offence and jurisdiction¹

Offence	ACT	NSW	NT	QLD	SA	TAS	VIC	WA	No PPP2	Total 2015/16	Total 2014/15
Title protections (s.113-120): Received		6						1	1	8	5
Title protections (s.113-120): Closed		2	1				1		2	6	2
Practice protections (s.121-123): Received										0	1
Practice protections (s.121-123): Closed										0	1
Advertising breach (s.133): Received										0	0
Advertising breach (s.133): Closed		1								1	1
Directing or inciting unprofessional conduct/professional misconduct (s.136): Received										0	0
Directing or inciting unprofessional conduct/professional misconduct (s.136): Closed										0	0
Other offence: Received										0	0
Other offence: Closed										0	0
Total 2015/16 (PPP)3: Received	0	6	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	8
Total 2015/16 (PPP)3: Closed	0	3	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	7
Total 2014/15 (PPP)3: Received	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	3		6
Total 2014/15 (PPP)3: Closed	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	1		4