Dodgy doctors could be named and shamed under new Qld laws

The public would be warned about doctors who are under investigation or subject to disciplinary proceedings under new Queensland laws.

The public would be warned about doctors who are under investigation or subject to disciplinary proceedings under new laws aimed at strengthening safety and confidence in health services.

The move, which would allow health agencies including the Ombudsman to publish public statements, would apply to all health practitioners across the public and private sectors whose conduct posed a serious risk to health and safety.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said an example of this could be if an investigation revealed that a practitioner routinely failed to follow sterilisation procedures and potentially exposed patients to an infectious disease.

“These warnings could result in people receiving early treatment to mitigate risks to their health that they otherwise would not have known about,” she said.

Authorities would be required to issue a show cause notice before publishing and the practitioner would have the right to appeal it.

If the practitioner ended up being cleared, then the public statement would be withdrawn.

Minister for Health Yvette D'Ath. Picture: Tara Croser.

The new law was included in a Bill that Ms D’Ath introduced on Wednesday which implements the second stage of nationally agreed reforms to the national registration and accreditation scheme for health professions.

“These are the most wide ranging reforms in the scheme’s history and represent a major milestone for the regulation of Australia’s health professions,” Ms D’Ath said.

The Bill also proposes allowing agencies to issue interim prohibition orders to unregistered practitioners including practitioners whose registration had lapsed or been suspended.

“While it is expected that the Health Ombudsman will still issue most interim prohibition orders in Queensland, the amendments will empower the national regulators to take swift action to address risks from people wrongly holding themselves out to be a registered health practitioner,” Ms D’Ath said.

“They will allow the regulators to require a person to stop providing some or all health services, or using a specific title, while an investigation or disciplinary proceedings are pursued.”