The Senate Finance and Public Administration Committee has slammed the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) for its failure to satisfactorily set up and operate the national registration system for Australia’s 528,000 health practitioners, causing massive impacts across the health services sector.

 

AHPRA was established in July 2010 as part of the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme to regulate 10 health professions including chiropractors; dental practitioners (including dentists, dental specialists, dental hygienists,dental prosthetists and dental therapists); medical practitioners; nurses and midwives; optometrists;  osteopaths; pharmacists; physiotherapists; podiatrists; and psychologists.

 

In its final report on the administration of health practitioner registration by AHPRA,  the Committee described extensive failures in the creation and implementation of the new regulatory system, resulting in many practitioners becoming deregistered, losing income and in some cases employment, and in some instances being exposed to legal liability. Other consequences were for patients, who were unable to claim Medicare rebates.

 

The Committee found the AHPRA at fault for having underestimated the timeframe needed for the implementation of the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (NRAS); for failing to undertake successful migration of databases to the new national register; for failing to provide satisfactory telephone contact services for health practitions; for poor training of staff, resulting in conflicting and inaccurate advice;  and for poor business practice in failing to acknowledge receipt of applications and payments, and in deregistering practitioners without notification.

 

Further, the Committee said it was  "concerned that there may be other, as yet unidentified, legal implications arising from AHPRA's poor administration and processes.”

 

It pointed to the impact on patients and health service provision as “yet another example of the serious implications of AHPRA's administrative failures”.

 

“The committee notes that it has exacerbated patient waiting times, and compromised health service provision, particularly in rural and remote communities which are already particularly vulnerable.”

 

The committee also expressed concerns about the implications of registration difficultieson the health workforce in Australia.

 

“In particular, these difficulties appear to be hampering the employment of qualified practitioners from overseas as well as making it difficult to retain and facilitate the re-entry of currently qualified domestic practitioners.”

 

“The committee acknowledges the concerns raised in the evidence provided to the committee regarding the impact any decline in the health workforce may have on health service provision in Australia. This is a serious matter and goes to the heart of the purpose for which AHPRA was established.”

 

The Committee made ten recommendations, including that AHPRA should take action to rectify problems and reimburse practitioners impacted by its failures;  that mechanisms be established to improve the accountability of AHPRA; that AHPRA establish consultative groups with professional organisations and health providers; and that the registration of overseas trained health practitioners be regularly reviewed.

 

The report is available here