The Royal Australian College of GPs (RACGP) has put health ministers on notice: they bear all responsibility for anything that goes wrong with their “rushed process” to implement an expedited pathway for overseas-trained medical specialists.
This follows an announcement that health ministers have approved an expedited pathway under which the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) will assess the suitability of overseas-trained doctors to practice in Australia, starting next Monday 21 October. Since 2005, suitability to practice in Australia has been assessed by the relevant specialist medical college.
The fast-track entry of overseas ophthalmologists is expected to begin some time next year, as part of moves to increase the healthcare workforce in this country.
The Australian Society of Ophthalmologists (ASO) has been critical of some aspects of the scheme, including plans to bypass RANZCO and other medical colleges in the accreditation process for overseas professionals.
Earlier this year, ASO president Dr Peter Sumich said that would “disempower our colleges”.
The RACGP also strongly opposes the move and has called for a stay on the proposal, having raised doubts about the regulator’s readiness and suitability for this task.
The College has also emphasised it strongly opposes simple paper-based assessments as a substitute for medical colleges’ rigorous evaluations of suitability that account for a doctor’s experience, context, training and assessments.
RACGP president Dr Nicole Higgins said the process had failed to allay the concerns of the RACGP and other colleges.
“We’ve been clear about the problems with this rushed approach, including significant risks to patient safety and quality of care. The blame for anything that goes wrong must be on the decision-makers behind it,” she said.
“Australia’s health ministers and Ahpra have pushed this through regardless of the major risks, unanswered questions, and lack of detail about how a GP’s suitability to practice will be assessed, just a week before it’s due to be implemented. We all hope it will work as planned, but you don’t guarantee the safety of patients and wellbeing of doctors with hope; you need appropriate processes.
“The RACGP engaged with Ahpra in an attempt to mitigate risks, and strongly opposes this approach. We have simplified and sped up processing for overseas specialists, while keeping high standards to ensure patient safety.
“RACGP data shows one in five doctors require extra education and professional support despite their qualifications being substantially comparable on paper to those of Australian GPs. This is why qualifications should only be part of the assessment of a medical professional’s readiness to practice in Australia.
“Health Ministers and Ahpra must now take full responsibility for managing any doctors who are in difficulty or at risk professionally or to patients.”
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