AHPRA review

PROCESSES and safeguards used to protect the confidentiality of health practitioners who report suspicious behaviour to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) are currently under review.

The safety of notifiers has come to the fore in recent days after court documents revealed a GP was provided with the name of a pharmacist who flagged concerns over his prescribing of benzodiazepines, when he was notified that he was under investigation, and was later told where the pharmacist worked, before he went to the pharmacy and attempted to kill her (PD 04 Jul).

A spokesperson for AHPRA told Pharmacy Daily the regulator had engaged the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner, to review its practices and processes.

“The Ombudsman will consider the experience of other organisations with anonymous or confidential complaints both within and outside Australia,” the spokesperson said.