Qld Annual Report Summary 2015/16

Foreword from Queensland State Manager, Rose Kent

In 2015/16, AHPRA strengthened working relationships with our stakeholders to ensure the public has access to experienced, qualified health practitioners and safe healthcare in our state.

Highlights of 2015/16

• More practitioners in Queensland: More than 5,500 additional registered health practitioners were welcomed to the National Scheme in Queensland in the past year, an increase of 4.6% (the largest percentage increase of any jurisdiction in Australia).
• A consistent approach: We worked closely with the OHO to ensure that notifications about health practitioners are managed in a way that offers the best protection of the health and safety of Queenslanders.
• Improved processes: We explored new ways to manage notifications and leveraged the benefits of being a national organisation.
• Fair dealings: We worked hard to improve the notifier and practitioner experience, acknowledging the impact that notifications have on all involved.
• Stakeholder engagement: We met regularly with key stakeholders and participated in external activities to increase understanding of registration standards and processes, notifications management and other issues related to the National Scheme.

Local decisions, national framework

The number of registered health practitioners in Queensland increased by 4.6% to 127,376 practitioners. This is above the national average increase of 3.2%. Just over 19% of the country’s 657,621 registered health practitioners have Queensland as their principal place of practice.

The OHO receives all health service complaints in Queensland, including those about registered health practitioners, and decides whether the complaint should be referred to AHPRA and the relevant National Board for management. The number of notifications referred by the OHO in 2015/16 more than doubled year on year, with a total of 1,919 complaints received. The notifications managed in the Queensland office in 2015/16 accounted for 19% of notifications received by AHPRA nationally, excluding data from the HPCA in New South Wales.

As at 30 June 2016, there were 1,078 monitoring cases, with 598 of these cases relating to health, performance and conduct issues being managed by this office. We have strengthened our approach to monitoring practitioners’ compliance with restrictions placed on their practice, and have improved the quality, timeliness and accuracy of our compliance work.

Working with our stakeholders

During the year, we have been in regular touch with many of our important stakeholders, listening to their ideas for ways we can improve, responding to feedback and taking opportunities to talk about the National Scheme.

We value these opportunities to share information about emerging trends and potential safety concerns, and the feedback we receive helps us improve our processes. We will continue to work hard to develop and maintain these important relationships.

Managing risk through local decision-making

We have also continued to build a solid working relationship with the OHO. We meet regularly with the OHO’s senior management team to share information, address concerns and look for ways to improve the way we do things. Our staff liaise on a daily basis to ensure that we collectively provide the most appropriate response to complaints about health practitioners. Many improvements have been made to the co-regulatory arrangements since they were established on 1 July 2014, however there is still more work to do to reduce duplication, improve efficiency and ensure that data are consistently captured, as well as to further develop a shared understanding of regulatory thresholds.

The Health Ombudsman also maintains oversight of AHPRA and the National Boards’ performance in Queensland in relation to the management of health, performance and conduct of health practitioners.

We have provided the Health Ombudsman with quarterly reports about our performance, implemented recommendations from formal reviews and provided information for annual assurance activities. We are keen to meet these requirements and use them as opportunities for business improvement, building on the strengths of the National Scheme.

Local office, national contribution

The day-to-day business of most of the team in the Queensland office is to manage our core regulatory functions of registration, notifications and compliance, and to support our local boards and committees. I thank the staff for their dedication, commitment and hard work. Each one of them has played an important role in protecting the public and demonstrated their ability to respond to all challenges in a professional and purposeful way. I am proud of their achievements in this, my first year as State Manager.

I would also like to thank the Queensland board and committee members for their expertise and commitment to the people of Queensland. I look forward to continuing to work in partnership with them to serve the Queensland community.