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An assessment determines what the National Board will do next in response to a concern.
It happens after we have received:
When assessing Ahpra considers the nature of the concern against the information we have about the practitioner against the information we have about the practitioner, their practice setting and the nature of their practice. At this stage we perform a risk assessment of the practitioner in the context of the concern raised.'
In most cases, we try to finish the assessment process within 60 days. During this period, we will contact the notifier to make sure we have all the relevant information about the concerns. The health practitioner who has had a concern raised about them is also usually contacted and may be asked to give information to help our risk assessment.
Our focus is on assessing whether the:
There are some cases, however, where the risk to the public is too great because of:
In these cases, we will usually investigate the practitioner. We may also need to take interim, protective action while our investigation occurs.
After assessing a concern, a National Board has a number of options available, they can:
As we manage a concern, we assess practitioner risk. We do this by referring to:
Yes. It helps us understand the concerns that you raised, and also what outcome you expect from raising the concern.
We prefer to speak to you directly. We will usually email you first to organise a time to talk.
Yes. And we prefer to gather this information by speaking to you directly.
There are occasions we will not contact you because doing so would:
Your response helps us understand more about you and what has changed or has happened since the notified concerns or event.
This includes what you and/ or your workplace(s) have done or are willing to do to ensure future risk is reduced(including arrangements you make if you are a self-employed practitioner).
This helps us understand what is in place to reduce any future risk to the public, and to support your ongoing safe and professional practice as a registered health practitioner.
Yes, if you were the person who raised the concern, or the practitioner (unless we have not contacted you previously).
We will explain to you from the beginning what you can expect from the process and the possible outcomes.
You can find more information about what you can expect from the concern you have raised in the ‘I have raised a concern with Ahpra’ video on this website.
You can also give feedback or raise a complaint.
Sometimes, Ahpra will not contact the practitioner at this stage if it is considered doing so would:
The role of the Ahpra at this stage is to gather relevant information. At the end of the assessment stage, Ahpra will present this information to the National Board for consideration. This report is prepared only for the National Board and is not released to the practitioner or the person who raised the concern. All decisions are made by the Board or delegates of the Board.
You should give us all the information you have available to you when you are making the notification.
If, after a decision is made about whether the notification should trigger any action from us, you believe there is information we haven’t considered, contact your case officer as soon as possible.
We will assess the information and