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20 Sep 2019
AHPRA receives a CLEAR award to recognise regulatory excellence internationally.
The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) has received an award which recognises regulatory excellence internationally.
The Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation (CLEAR) has bestowed its Regulatory Excellence Group Award on AHPRA’s Notifications team, recognising its contribution to improving the experience of health practitioners and the public when engaging with the regulator.
The prestigious award recognises an outstanding team contribution to the enhancement of occupational or professional regulation, regulatory processes or consumer and public protection.
To receive the award the team had to demonstrate exceptional leadership, vision, creativity, results and outcomes above and beyond the regular functions of the job or expectations, and beyond what is normally achieved.
National Director, Notifications for AHPRA Matthew Hardy accepted the award on behalf of his team and leaders of the project National Engagement Advisor Susan Biggar and Program Manager Monica Lambley.
‘I am honoured to have been working with a great team at AHPRA to help improve the experience of registered health practitioners and the public, particularly when they engage with the notifications process,’ he said.
‘I also want to thank all of our notifications teams across Australia who are deeply committed to our public safety mission and have embraced new ways of working to communicate better with health practitioners and the public.’
AHPRA CEO Martin Fletcher said the work done by the award-winning team has made a tangible difference.
‘The impact of their work has been profound and far-reaching’ said Mr Fletcher.
‘They have led the introduction of surveys and interviews to ask how practitioners and the public have felt through the notifications process, which has led to real changes in how we do our work. Since 2016, we have received over 5,000 surveys and undertaken nearly 100 face to face interviews with practitioners and notifiers.
‘This work has transformed our staff training and support materials to ensure we deliver more empathetic approaches to responding to practitioners and the public, and that we are well prepared to deal with difficult situations.
‘More recently, the team has developed a series of videos to support notifiers and health practitioners as they go through the notification process,’ he added.
The ‘Let’s talk about it’ video series explains what happens when concerns are raised and gives easy-to-follow information and answers common questions so consumers and health practitioners know what to expect.
Michael Salvatori, Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of Ontario College of Teachers and CLEAR President 2018-19 will present the award at CLEAR's 2019 Annual Educational Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota on 20 September 2019.
At the conference AHPRA’s Executive Director of Regulatory Operations Kym Ayscough will also be announced as the incoming President of CLEAR. Kym has been a member of the CLEAR Board of Directors since 2016 and is the first President from the southern hemisphere. She is looking forward to the challenge of leading the Board in delivering CLEAR’s mission to bring together the international regulatory community.
‘Global mobility makes the work of CLEAR really important and relevant for all regulators. The opportunity for regulators to share experiences across professions and across borders makes a significant contribution to the regulators’ public protection mission. Over the next year, I am looking forward to playing my part in helping CLEAR deliver this unique opportunity for regulators,’ she said.’
‘CLEAR is delighted to welcome Kym Ayscough as its first Australian President. Kym’s leadership will be instrumental in CLEAR’s continued quest to promote regulatory excellence in Asia-Pacific and beyond,’ added outgoing CLEAR president Mr Salvatori.