Daniel Smith, 25, reported depression, crying and insomnia to his GP on 15 April 2008. This was secondary to his break up with his ex-fiancée, pain from a motor vehicle accident in 2006, associated court proceedings, and his excessive consumption of alcohol. On 30...
Emma Jack
GP Suspended for Slapping a Child’s Face during Consulation
The child and his mother had attended for an appointment so that the GP might try to help the child swallow his ADHD medication. The GP attempted to teach the child how to swallow the medication over a period of about 50 minutes. The child refused and fidgeted in his...
GP ordered to repay $450,000 for inappropriate billing
Dr Nicholas Sevdalis maintained that he made handwritten records which he subsequently transferred to an electronic record. However, the Committee held that the handwritten documents which were tendered in evidence were not contemporaneous and were “recent...
AHPRA Annual Report for 2015/16
Highlights of the past year include: There were about 20,000 new registrants in the past year, with a total of 65,274 applications for registrations received across all professions. There was a tightening of the criminal history checking process, resulting in the...
Does a practitioner’s mental illness automatically mean impairment?
The practitioner had a long history of mental illness, with periods of hospitalisation and community treatment orders (CTO) dating back to 1998. She suffered from a serious chronic psychotic disorder characterised by paranoid delusions and disorganised behaviour. As a...
Epilepsy intervention study leads to $1.6M payout
The patient suffered from epilepsy due to an antenatal stroke. At age 21, she underwent telemetry testing to determine her eligibility for surgical intervention. The testing required her brain activity to be monitored during a seizure. Whilst under Hospital care and...
Professional Services Review Annual Report 2015-16
In 2015/16 there was an increase in the number of investigations of Chronic Disease Management and MBS Health Assessment items. Many practitioners providing high numbers of these services were found to use computer-generated templates leading to plans with minimal...
Nurses disciplined for using restraints on vulnerable patient with dementia
The patient was initially restrained for some two hours in the Ward’s lounge room. Thereafter while he was still being restrained in a chair by means of a pelvic posey, the two nurses used a second pelvic posey to fasten the chair to railing in a corridor near the...
HR Toolbox Blog
Updated Workplace Bullying Prevention and Management Guides Safe Work Australia have published updated versions of their anti-bullying guides. The two publications, “Guide for preventing and responding to workplace bullying” and “Dealing with workplace bullying – A...
Review on the use of chaperones: should the chaperone system be scrapped?
Currently, 47 doctors Australia-wide are under conditions requiring a chaperone as a temporary protective measure, allowing them to continue to practise whilst misconduct allegations are investigated by AHPRA. The Chaperone system requires strict monitoring and...