Doctors who endure investigations based on vexatious complaints would receive financial compensation under a new proposal from Australian senators.
A Senate committee inquiry has reviewed AHPRA’s complaints process, which some doctors have described as slow, punitive and unfair.
Among its 14 recommendations, the Community Affairs committee calls for state and federal health ministers to look at whether doctors hit by vexatious complaints that lead to an AHPRA investigation should receive a payout.
Senators heard from numerous doctors that AHPRA failed to weed out vexatious complaints from aggrieved patients or rival practitioners.
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In response, AHPRA told senators that vexatious complaints were extremely rare.
The Senate report, released last week, concluded that vexatious complaints were “relatively infrequent”, but AHPRA should do more to protect practitioners from the stress of investigations based on frivolous complaints.
Another recommendation would have AHPRA write monthly updates for practitioners under investigation.
The report said that a lack of transparency meant practitioners were losing confidence in the system.
It also recommended that practitioners be allowed to appeal against cautions.
The report also expressed concern over AHPRA’s decision to caution Tasmanian orthopaedic surgeon Dr Gary Fettke shortly after he gave evidence to its previous inquiry into bullying in the medical profession.
The senators concluded there was no evidence to show AHPRA had breached parliamentary rules, but they described the timing of the caution for giving inappropriate dietary advice to a patient as “either a remarkable coincidence or a remarkable oversight”.