The latest insights from our Health Law team:
If you'd like to stay up to date with Russell Kennedy's insights, please sign up here.
The Albanese Government is establishing a National Nurse and Midwife Health Service, aiming to provide stigma-free access to a range of health services for nurses and midwives.
The $25.2 million dollar investment will establish a Service available to all Australian nurses and midwives, including students. It offers a range of services, including stress management, counselling and referrals to respond to mental health issues. Registered nurses, enrolled nurses, nurse practitioners and midwives will be employed to offer free, confidential and independent advice, support and information to their peers in need.
Ged Kearney, Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care noted that "this is about providing a familiar front door for nurses and midwives to be able to talk about their mental health concerns to their peers who just get it".
The national rollout framework for the Service will begin in the coming months, led by the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, and will replicate Victoria’s successful Nursing and Midwifery Health Program which was established in 2006.
The Service will operate through four central hub locations, including Victoria-Tasmania, New South Wales-Australia Capital Territory, South Australia-Western Australia and Queensland-Northern Territory, and additional regional offices.
To read more, click here.
To raise the standard for patient safety, promote openness, and increase support for victims, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) has released a blueprint to better deal with sexual misconduct towards patients by healthcare practitioners.
Ahpra and the National Medical Boards will commence a review of the Criminal History registration standard which sets out the factors the National Board will consider in deciding whether a health practitioner’s criminal history is relevant to the practice of their profession under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (National Law). Ahpra will also increase support and information services to victims as they navigate the Civil and Administrative Tribunals and regulatory processes, and invest in research on the outcomes of sexual misconduct matters.
Ahpra has also recommended reforms to all the states and territories to prioritise the needs of the First Nations people and increase the role of community members in decision making committees about practitioner misconduct.
The blueprint and suggested reforms aim to amend the National Law by making hearings more transparent, information more readily available on the national register about practitioner’s misconducts and introduce a Charter of Rights to ensure victims and witnesses are acknowledged, respected and supported.
To learn more about Ahpra’s blueprint and suggested reforms click here.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) recently undertook an inquiry into aspects of supported accommodation, examining over 7000 reportable incidents and complaints made about supported accommodation services from July 2018 to September 2022.
The report identified the following key underlying causes of complaints, namely:
- the capability and culture of the workforce;
- the nature of supported accommodation settings and the way resources are applied to enable safe and quality supports;
- inadequate transparency and communication about the supports that will be delivered, how and why they might change; and
- how serious incidents and issues affecting a person are being managed and why they occurred in the first place.
In response to the report, the NDIS Commission has prioritised improving the quality and safety of supported independent living supports, amplifying the voice of the people with disability living in supported accommodation and improving the NDIS to maximise the choice, control and experience of participants living in supported accommodation.
The NDIS Commission has developed a detailed action plan which can be accessed here.
Click here to find out more.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has issued an alert saying there is a nationwide shortage of antibiotics such as amoxicillin, cephalexin and metronidazole. This also corresponds with a shortage of Ozempic (semaglutide) which is used to treat patients with obesity in addition to treating patients with type 2 diabetes.
Pharmacists are forced to come up with other alternatives in order to meet the shortfall in medication. Patients who are unable to secure their prescribed medication from pharmacies are encouraged to go back to their general practitioner and discuss alternatives.
The issues affecting Australian supplies of medication is mostly logistical and not related to any increase in demand. According to the Pharmacy Guild, Australia accounts for only 2% of the global pharmaceutical market. This is because Australia is not an attractive place for manufacturers as Australians are paying less for medication. By comparison Americans pay up to four times as much as the median price for branded drugs.
The shortage is set to linger for several months, further reminding Australians that domestically produced medications are preferred.
To read more about TGA medicine shortages click here.
In a recent hearing, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) found a pharmacist guilty of professional misconduct. In doing so, VCAT reprimanded, cancelled the pharmacist’s registration, and disqualified him from being a health practitioner for a period of three years from the date of the order.
The pharmacist, known as VGV, was first referred to VCAT in January 2020 by the Pharmacy Board of Australia after VGV failed to notify the Board of criminal offences that had occurred in the past 12 months as part of their registration renewal. After the Board became aware of further criminal conduct, a second referral was made to VCAT in April 2021.
In giving its decision, VCAT considered all the evidence. VGV had committed a number of criminal offences, including stealing prescription pads, falsifying prescriptions (including forging a signature of a family member), and being in possession of illicit drugs. Additionally, VGV was found guilty of driving while suspended, driving while on illicit drugs, and driving while his licence was cancelled due to the above driving offences. VCAT did note, however, that the pharmacist had pleaded guilty to all criminal charges, and was only convicted from the third driving offence. Further, VGV had experienced poor mental health and addiction, with VCAT acknowledging repeated efforts towards rehabilitation. However, as the pharmacist did not attend the hearing (due to feeling unfairly treated by the Board), VGV’s current state of health and level of remorse could not be applied as mitigating factors. The decision not to attend the hearing represented ‘a lack of understanding’ of the role played by the Board and VCAT.
In weighing all the evidence, VCAT ultimately held against VGV finding that the totality of the conduct pointed to an inability to meet the expectation that VGV ‘must abide by the law at all times and in all circumstances’. This was important as health professionals have better access to more support and treatment options, and have a particular responsibility to ‘ensure they do not practise when their capacity to meet their professional duties is impaired’.
VCAT held the order was to ‘serve as a warning’ to members of the profession that ‘they must seek help and take steps to ensure they can practise safely and act lawfully’, or ‘they risk not only criminal consequences and possible personal shame but also loss of the privilege of practising their profession’.
To read more, click here.
The full tribunal decision can be found here.
How we can help
For more information, please contact the Russell Kennedy Health Team.
Learn more about Russell Kennedy's expertise in the Health sector here.
If you'd like to stay up to date with Russell Kennedy's Insights, please sign up here.