Options to toss out, keep or tweak rules which force treating doctors to report an impaired peer have been handed to the medical community for comment.
The options paper comes after health ministers in August agreed that doctors should be able to seek treatment for health issues with confidentiality, but stressed the public must still be protected.
Lobbying by the medical profession for a universal ‘WA-style’ exemption has intensified in the wake of a spate of doctors’ suicides, with proponents arguing those needing help are not getting it for fear of being hauled in front of the health regulator.
The AMA highlights the 153 suicide deaths of health professionals between 2011 and 2014 recorded by the Australian National Coronial Information System.
A discussion paper outlining the four options for reform was released by Australian Health Ministers Advisory Council in early September.
Option 1 maintains the status quo, with treating doctors obligated to report all impairments and notifiable conduct – such as sexual misconduct – that place the public at ‘substantial risk’ of harm – including incidents that occurred in the past.
Option 2 adopts the Western Australian model, giving doctors full exemption from the requirement to report any impairment or notifiable conduct they became aware of through treating their patient. However the paper notes confidentiality is not absolute and “there are a range of circumstances, particularly in relation to protecting the public from serious threats of harm, where confidentiality is not, and should not be, guaranteed”.
Under option 3, doctors are exempt from reporting impairments if they form the belief it will not put the public at risk of substantial harm now or in the future. They are still required to report other notifiable conduct, such as sexual misconduct or practising while intoxicated, including historical incidents.
Option 4 is a softer version of option 3, where doctors are exempt from reporting impairments and must only report other notifiable conduct that is currently occurring, not that which is historical.