The OBA outlined its latest regulatory plan as part of the health profession agreent (HPA), which was published last week.The HPA sets out the partnership between the OBA and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), as well as the services AHPRA will provide in supporting the regulator to carry out its functions.The OBA and AHPRA work together to implent the National Registration and Accreditation Sche (National Sche), under which Australian registered health practitioners are regulated.“By publishing the HPA, it donstrates the board’s and AHPRA’s commitment to transparency and accountability in implenting the National Sche,” OBA chair Mr Ian Bluntish said.In previous years, the HPA period has been 12 months, however, the scope of the current agreent is from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2020.Mr Bluntish explained, “The HPA is one of the tools used by the OBA and AHPRA to deliver against the National Sche’s strategic vision, objectives and guiding principles. As a result, the OBA took the opportunity to align the HPA with the National Sche’s strategy for 2015–20, which was developed jointly by AHPRA and the National Boards [who regulate Australia’s health professions], and published last year.”The OBA’s 2016 regulatory plan addressed the National Sche’s five strategic outcomes for 2015–20:
- Reduced risk of harm to the public associated with the practice of regulated health professions
- Assurance that registered health practitioners are suitably trained and qualified to practise in a competent and ethical manner
- Increased public confidence in the effective and efficient regulation of health practitioners
- Increased public benefit from the use of AHPRA data for practitioner regulation, health workforce planning and research
- Improved access to healthcare through AHPRA’s contribution to a more sustainable health workforce.
- Mr Bluntish said registered optometrists could expect the OBA to continue its regular reviews of all registration standards and guidelines to ensure they rained up-to-date and relevant to the profession.
“The OBA has progressed its preliminary consultation on the review of the registration standard for CPD and guidelines for CPD for endorsed and non-endorsed optometrists,” he noted. “As an example of cross-profession activities within the National Sche, a number of other boards are also currently reviewing those standards.”Mr Bluntish added that the OBA and AHPRA “take their role in keeping the public safe very seriously and expect optometrists to do the same”.“The OBA is considering ways of working with optometrists to help th better understand their regulatory obligations, especially in relation to areas like advertising,” he said. “The Board is also looking at ways to help consumers to better understand the role of the National Sche in the regulation of optometry services.”The HPA will continue to be reviewed on an annual basis.
