Associate Professor Mark Daniell. Picture by: Jeff McEwan, Capture Studios

RANZCO is developing a process to provide active assurance of safe practise across the region to safeguard the public from poorly performing or incompetent doctors. While the number of practitioners not performing up to standard was small, they are over-represented in complaints and reflect poorly on the rest of the profession, said RANZO president Associate Professor Mark Daniell in his address in RANZCO’s Eye2Eye magazine.

Two of the biggest risk factors for under-performance are increasing age and professional isolation. RANZCO’s process will closely align to the Medical Board of Australia’s (MBA’s) five pillars of professional performance and will build on structures RANZCO already has in place, said A/Prof Daniell, including strengthened assessment of practitioners with multiple substantiated complaints against them and a formal peer review. It is also likely peer reviews and health checks will be required for doctors aged 70 and every three years after that.

Details of this process are being finalised in conjunction with the MBA and the Australian Health Practitioner Registration Agency (AHPRA) and the College will have a key role in supporting those with performance issues so they are carefully rehabilitated back into safe practise and assisted with remediation strategies, said RANZCO.