Media Response — Insight News

The Australian Society of Ophthalmologists (ASO) accepts the decision of the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) to introduce new measures that permanently identify practitioners who commit sexual misconduct. This includes all AHPRA registered practitioners including doctors, nurses, midwives, optometrists, physiotherapists, podiatrists and psychologists.

Patient safety, clinical or otherwise, has been a cornerstone of the ASO’s advocacy efforts from its beginning — a position that remains and continues today. 

It is the ASO’s understanding that as part of key changes being implemented under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 patients will be able to access the disciplinary record of practitioners that are proven to have committed sexual misconduct, protections will be boosted for people who make complains about practitioners, and non-disclosure agreements that prevent people from making complaints about practitioners will be banned.

The ASO’s position stands that any disciplinary data published publicly on the National Register should only be the outcome of timely and thorough investigative and judicial processes. Read our full submission to AHPRA’s data strategy public consultation February 2023 here. The ASO supports the implementation of these transparent measures that ensure the personal and clinical safety of Australian patients in our healthcare settings.

Whilst the ASO accepts the announcement, it continues to remain gravely concerned about other areas of patient safety that are presently being overlooked, despite widespread healthcare sector concern. 

Specifically, the fast-tracked mass entry of Specialist International Medical Graduates (SIMGs) and removal of the role of Australian medical colleges in their training and accreditation, which is been passed to the Australian Medical Council (AMC).

To ensure patient safety is at the forefront of decision making and safety procedures are not bypassed, the ASO is calling on the Chair of the Medical Board of Australia to continue to allow medical colleges to assess equivalency standards for new SIMGs entering the Australian workforce

The ASO is also advocating for the prioritisation of Australian doctors in training who want to progress with specialist training, providing local solutions to long-term health workforce shortages. 

In addition, the ASO is calling for increased public hospital funding for surgery waiting lists, with the public hospital sector the training ground for the next generation of all Australian surgeons.