Insights Sectors: Medical Practitioners

SafeScript provides Victorian prescribers and pharmacists access to the prescription history of their patients for high-risk medicines. SafeScript information can alert the prescriber and dispenser to patients at risk of harm or overdose associated with high risk medicines, and assist with deciding whether to prescribe or dispense the high-risk medicine. SafeScript will be implemented across […]

The Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 (Vic) (the Act) comes into operation on 19 June 2019, making Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD)[1] legal in Victoria. When the legislation comes into effect in June, Victorian registered medical practitioners need to be aware of their role in the application of the Act. For medical practitioners who wish to […]

From 1 July 2019, the Shared Debt Recovery Scheme will allow the Commonwealth Government to hold a practitioner (primary debtor) as well as another party such as medical and other health practices (secondary debtor) responsible for repayment of debts resulting from incorrectly claiming Medicare benefits. According to the recently enacted Health Insurance (Medicare Compliance Shared […]

In July 2018 the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and Victoria Police announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding information sharing. Under the Victorian agreement, AHPRA can disclose information to Victoria Police where there are allegations or evidence of criminal offending including physical harm, sexual offending, production of exploitative material, or drug offences. The […]

From 1999 onwards, Dr Emil Gayed worked in public and private hospitals across NSW. During that time, complaints and concerns were raised regarding Dr Gayed’s professional practice and performance. Dr Gayed was disqualified from practice following a Tribunal finding that Dr Gayed had engaged in numerous incidences of unsatisfactory professional conduct, and that together they […]

The Victorian Health Complaints Commissioner (the Commissioner) can now issue general health warnings and ban unregistered service providers from treating patients, even before a complaint investigation is completed, if the Commissioner believes a health provider poses a serious danger to the public.  A breach of the new General Code of Conduct[1] (the Code) for providers […]

The concept of ‘Competent Professional Practice’ has been considered by Courts in a number of recent NSW cases determining medical negligence. In a recent medical negligence case South Western Sydney Local Health District v Gould [2018] NSWCA 69 (Gould),[1] the NSW Court of Appeal (NSWCA) considered the interpretation of the statutory ‘irrational’ exception to the […]

In a recent decision, the Federal Court of Australia confirmed that health care practitioners alleged to have engaged in ‘inappropriate practice’ in providing 80 or more professional services on each of 20 or more days during a relevant period are burdened with the evidentiary onus of establishing that there was an absence of alternative medical […]

The Shared Debt Recovery Scheme will take effect on 1 July 2019. The recent enactment of the Health Legislation Amendment (Improved Medicare Compliance and Other Measures) Bill 2008, will mean that from 1 July 2019 the Commonwealth Government will be able to pursue both individual medical practitioners and employing and contracting medical organisations for repayment […]

Introduction My Health Record is an online summary of an individual’s key health information. A My Health Record will be created for every Australian who wants one after 31 January 2019. An individual may cancel their My Health Record at any time. The My Health Record system is intended to allow for the online sharing […]

The Victorian of Court Appeal has settled the uncertainty regarding the protections provided by statutory privilege over medical records in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT). The Victorian Court of Appeal has reversed a previous decision and confirmed that patients’ medical records are not protected by statutory privilege in a disciplinary hearing of the […]