Insights Categories: Insurance

AHPRA releases revised Guidelines for Mandatory Notifications about registered health practitioners

On 21 February 2020, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) released revised guidelines in anticipation of changes to mandatory notification requirements coming into effect in March 2020. The revised guidelines explain the requirements to make mandatory notifications under the updated legislative requirements for treating registered health practitioners, non-treating registered health practitioners, employers of registered […]

What is a Drone? Who can own and operate one?

Key takeaways: A drone is a Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) Anyone can own one Expanding number of uses, private and commercial Complex rules and regulations This is our second article, in a series of articles on drone use in Australia. The first article provided an overview of drone use and insurance cover. This article focuses […]

Landlord and agent – the buck stops where?

Yeung v Santosa Realty Co Pty Ltd [2020] VSCA 7 Background On 19 May 2014, the plaintiff, a tenant of residential premises, slipped at night on back stairs that were worn, slippery, unlit and had no handrail. The tenant successfully brought proceedings for negligence in the County Court against the owner of the premises and […]

Claims Against International Airlines

When has an ‘Accident’ occurred? Does a failure to provide water during a flight constitute an ‘accident’? Key takeaways An ‘accident’ is an unusual event or happening, that is external to the passenger. An ‘accident’ is not where the injury results from:- the passenger’s own internal reaction to the usual, normal and expected operation of […]

General practitioner successfully appeals negligence finding

Abstract A Sydney-based general practitioner has successfully appealed a finding of negligence based on an alleged failure to refer a patient for specialist treatment in the context of particular pathology results (which predated his involvement in the patient’s care) on a background of a chronic and prolonged health condition.   District Court proceedings [1] Mr […]

A reminder about the potential strength of ‘usual practice’ evidence

Phelan v Melbourne Health [2019] VSCA 205 Defending or even assessing the merits of an action in medical negligence can often be challenging when the medical practitioners involved cannot recall the particular patient concerned. Through no one’s fault, memory can be impeded by the lapse of time and high patient volume loads. As such, it […]

Insurance, drones and you.

Article 1 of 3 – An Introduction In a series of upcoming articles, we will be providing: An overview of drone regulations and rules Licensing requirements for drone use A summary of the potential liabilities and penalties Information on what happens if injury is caused by an individual, state employee or commercial operator- does it […]

Powerful new Sports Tribunal leads the way in bolstering integrity in Australian sport. Why is this important?

Key takeaways: New legislation governing arbitration/ADR of Australian sports disputes National Sports Tribunal introduced for resolution of sports disputes Two-year pilot Conditional opt out scheme Laws apply to acts committed or omitted within as well as outside of Australia Locally handled sporting Appeals have the potential to lower costs Significant civil penalties for breach Sports […]

What’s the damage? Recent trends in General Damages awards for psychiatric injuries in Victoria.

Key takeaways: General damages awards for psychiatric injuries can be significant A ‘recognisable psychiatric illness’ must be present Treatment not sought is not necessarily an impediment to a psychiatric claim Have there been any discernible trends in the awarding of damages for psychiatric injuries in recent years in Victoria? Four cases decided between 2013 and […]

What happens to healthcare complaints in Western Australia?

The Health and Disability Services Complaints Office (HaDSCO) handles complaints about health, disability and mental health services in Western Australia. Consumers of health services in Western Australia can make complaints about individuals or organisations that provide health, disability or mental health services [1]. ‘Health services’ encompasses complaints about health services provided by: Medical practices, medical […]

Ask for help, and ask early – advice for surviving an AHPRA notification

Meridian Lawyers regularly assists health practitioners who have been the subject of notification to statutory health authorities such as AHPRA, HCCC and the OHO. Our role is to help these practitioners understand, respond to and navigate the complaints process.  Unfortunately, we regularly hear clients express distress that they are the subject of complaint. Many suffer […]

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