Tas Annual Report Summary 2015/16

Foreword from Tasmania State Manager, Catherine Miedecke

It has been a busy and productive year for the Tasmanian AHPRA office. We have built on existing stakeholder relationships, encouraged greater collaboration and streamlined registration processes to ensure the community has access to safe healthcare.

Highlights of 2015/16

• Working in partnership with the ACT: The Tasmanian and ACT offices combined strengths to deliver a consistent and efficient way of working across jurisdictions.
• Sharing information: The Tasmanian office engaged with local professions and health entities to ensure revised registration standards were known and understood.
• A period of growth: The number of registered health practitioners in Tasmania increased by 1.7% to 14,123. New applications for registration grew by 6.2% year on year.

Working in partnership with the National Boards

In 2015/16, the Tasmanian office has had the opportunity to test and strengthen intrajurisdictional working relationships in the regulatory operational network by partnering with the ACT office to explore more efficient ways of working.

This has enabled us to build specific and precise skill sets, better manage work volume and build consistency in our interpretation and application of the National Law.

The National Boards have this year revised a number of registration standards, and policy and guideline documents. Tasmanian office staff have supported local board and committee members to ensure that these changes flowed through into the local professional knowledge networks. For example, significant work was undertaken to ensure that employers and medical recruiters were wellinformed about new supervision requirements published by the Medical Board of Australia.

State and territory boards and committees, and the National Boards of Medical, Dental and Nursing and Midwifery, have continued to share professional development opportunities. The Nursing and Midwifery Board explored palliative care, endof- life decision-making and the various forms of guardianships and health directives.

Registration staff provided support to the Medical Board in ensuring that all relevant stakeholders were aware of the new supervision guidelines for international medical graduates.

Building stakeholder relationships

AHPRA staff and board members have continued to engage and build stakeholder relationships. Regular meetings took place with the Office of the Chief Nurse and Midwifery Officer, the Health Minister and the Tasmanian Health Complaints Commissioner. We have built upon work last year to establish new lines of communication with the Tasmanian Health Service and an orientation and overview of the National Scheme was presented to the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.

Managing risk through local decision-making

One of the key functions of our office is to make decisions about the registration of practitioners with a principal place of practice in Tasmania.

This includes processing complex applications for registration, often involving practitioners who have been registered overseas, and decision-making about local practitioners who are the subject of a notification (concern or complaint).

The key focus of the Tasmanian office is to keep our community safe by ensuring the public has access to qualified, experienced practitioners.

The mechanisms for managing risk are consistent in each state and territory under the National Scheme, and may include some or all of the following: immediate action, imposing restrictions, accepting undertakings, suspension or cancellation of registration, ongoing compliance monitoring of practitioners, and/or audits.

Local boards may also refuse or impose conditions on registration while making decisions on registration applications.

Local office, national contribution

The collaboration between the Tasmania and ACT AHPRA offices has focused on strategies and ways of working that ensure consistency across jurisdictions. Our motto of ‘one team, one way’ has led to more efficient processes over the past year.

This work has also demonstrated our commitment to improving efficiency and effectiveness following an independent review of the National Scheme by COAG Health Council (CHC) and its advisory body, the Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council (AHMAC).

I would like to thank the AHPRA staff for their willingness to adapt to new ways of working across two offices, especially the Directors of Registration and Notification who have led these changes with their respective teams.

I would also like to thank the Chairs of the Tasmanian boards and committees and members for their continued enthusiasm and commitment to regulating health professionals in the public interest in Tasmania. A special thank you to Ms Kim Gabriel, who acted as Chair for the Tasmanian Nursing and Midwifery Board for a significant time during this reporting period.