Report on complaints noted

02 Dec 2016

We note the report on the medical complaints process and are taking action to do our part to address bullying and harassment.

Statement from the Medical Board of Australia and AHPRA

We note the release of the Senate Community Affairs References Committee inquiry into the medical complaints process in Australia report.

We will review the Committee’s recommendations.

In the meantime, we are already taking action to do our part to address systemic issues, such as bullying and harassment, by:

• strengthening the Medical Board of Australia’s Good medical practice - a code of conduct for doctors in Australia about bullying and harassment and making the standards of acceptable behaviour for doctors clear
  
  
• taking the lead in developing and implementing a national, annual survey of trainees which will give them a voice, be a safe place for them to provide feedback on their training experience and enable systemic issues such as potential hotspots of bullying and harassment to be identified. AHPRA and the Board will work with health departments, employers, medical colleges, and the Australian Medical Council to develop the governance and funding arrangements to make this happen
  
  
• commissioning research on vexatious complaints to understand how and why people are driven to make them, and what we can do about it. The data we have now indicates this is a small problem with a big impact when it happens. We will publish what we learn and act on it, and
  
  
• strengthening Good medical practice - a code of conduct for doctors in Australia on vexatious complaints and establishing a clear benchmark to enable the Medical Board of Australia to take further action against a practitioner who makes complaints purely to damage another registered practitioner.