The Medical Board of Australia (MBA) and Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) recently released the report Independent review of the use of chaperones to protect patients in Australia and have accepted all its recommendations.
The review found the use of chaperones does not meet community expectations and does not always keep patients safe.
The review considered whether, and if so when, it is appropriate to impose a chaperone condition on the registration of a health practitioner to protect patients while allegations of sexual misconduct are investigated.
The report recommends:
- no longer using chaperones as an interim restriction while allegations of sexual misconduct are investigated
- establishing a specialist team within AHPRA working with the MBA to improve the handling of sexual misconduct complaints, and
strengthening monitoring and providing more information to patients when chaperone conditions are in place.
