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Update on work to improve the notifier experience

18 Jun 2015

AHPRA has published an update on its work to improve customer service, in response to Health Issues Centre Victoria recommendations.

An update on the work being undertaken to improve consumers’ interaction with the National Scheme that regulates health practitioners has been published today.

The work addresses the recommendations made by the Health Issues Centre Victoria (HIC) in their report Setting things right, which considered how to improve the consumer experience when making a notification (complaint) about a health practitioner.

AHPRA CEO Mr Martin Fletcher said the agency has been implementing the recommendations in the HIC report.

'In September 2014 we published our first update on the work we were doing to address the recommendations from the HIC report, and today we release our next update', said Mr Fletcher.

The latest update outlines the work that is underway, including:

  • simplifying the way someone can make a complaint about advertising or use protected titles (such as 'physiotherapist' or 'doctor'), that may be in breach of the National Law1,
  • reviewing and updating the AHPRA website and communications materials, including the letters sent to notifiers, to make them easier to understand, and
  • implementing a shared philosophy, the National Boards and AHPRA Regulatory principles, which underpin the work of the Boards and AHPRA in regulating Australia’s health practitioners in the public interest.

'Our systems are robust but there is always room to improve. Our commitment to improving the notifier experience is ongoing, and we will keep releasing updates on this work and invite consumers and practitioners to hold us accountable on this work', said Mr Fletcher.

AHPRA recently expanded the scope of this project to also consider the experience of health practitioners who are the subject of a notification. Early analysis indicates that the experience of practitioners can often echo that of the notifier and that there is room for improvement across both groups.

'We recently held an all-day workshop with the Australian Medical Association to look in to the experiences of some of their members who had been the subject of a notification and found that there were similarities between the two groups. In particular, practitioners felt strongly about ways in which AHPRA could improve communication with them throughout the process' said Mr Fletcher.

'This means that by following the HIC recommendations and looking at other ways to improve the process and how we communicate, the whole experience will be clearer and easier to understand for both notifiers and practitioners'.

The HIC report is published with the AHPRA updates on the work being undertaken to address the recommendations, on the Improving our work section on the AHPRA website.

For more information

  • Media inquiries: (03) 8708 9200

Download a PDF of this Media release - Setting things right - Update on work to improve the notifier experience - 18 June 2015 (211 KB,PDF)

1The Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, as in force in each state and territory (National Law).

 
 
Page reviewed 18/06/2015