Australia Health

More than 1000 Victorian health practitioners are being monitored by the health watchdog over concerns about their performance, conduct or health issues

More than 1000 Victorian health practitioners are being monitored by the health watchdog over concerns about their performance, conduct or health issues including drug and alcohol problems.

While the number of complaints about Victorian practitioners remained stable over the past year, cases where the health watchdog’s concerns are strong enough to demand active monitoring of doctors, nurses and other registered health workers jumped by nine per cent.

The latest Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Authority report reveals that the 1032 Victorian practitioners currently being monitored include 171 whose performance has been questioned, 132 facing issues over their conduct, and 125 with “health concerns”.

Across Australia almost 5000 practitioners are being monitored, with doctors and then nurses the most likely to be under the watchdog’s supervision.

Overall, complaints against Australian health practitioners jumped almost 20 per cent last year, however much of the increase is due to changed reporting measures in Queensland rather than a rise in actual cases.

Of more than 650,000 registered Australian practitioners only 1.5 per cent had a notification lodged against them last year.

In another pleasing sign for the watchdog, a plea for health workers to report colleagues’ dangerous practices in the days after the first avoidable Bacchus Marsh baby deaths were revealed has led to an almost 18 per cent rise in mandatory reporting notifications.

In Victoria there were 244 mandatory reports made by health workers concerned about a colleagues’ practice, more than any other state.

“We think that the campaign, together with increased media coverage and public discussion about mandatory reporting, has contributed to the increase in mandatory reports we received in 2015/16,” AHPRA chief executive officer Martin Fletcher said.

Health Minister Jill Hennessy said the Bacchus Marsh tragedies highlighted the need for AHPRA to take action more quickly to better protect patients.

“We need to see more reporting, faster investigations, better risk management of potential misconduct cases and stronger powers to crack down on dangerous and dodgy practitioners — and that’s what my reforms agenda at COAG seek to deliver,” she said.

While the number of complaints about Victorian practitioners remained stable over the past year, cases where the health watchdog’s concerns are strong enough to demand active monitoring of doctors, nurses and other registered health workers jumped by 9 per cent.

The latest Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Authority report reveals that the 1032 Victorian practitioners now being monitored include 171 whose performance has been questioned, 132 facing issues over their conduct, and 125 with “health concerns”.

Across Australia almost 5000 practitioners are being monitored. Overall, complaints against Australian health practitioners jumped almost 20 per cent last year, however much of the increase is due to changed reporting measures in Queensland rather than a rise in actual cases.