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  • Call for support for doctors being probed

    Author: AAP

Health professionals being investigated should have mental health support and the right to legal representation, a new advocate says.

Queensland became the first state to pass new laws giving federal watchdogs more power over registered health practitioners.

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The laws, which are set to be enacted in all states, allow regulators to ban unregistered practitioners and warn people when registered professionals are being probed or disciplined.

The incoming chair of Australian Health Practitioners Advisory Solutions Dr Gino Pecoraro says the laws don't take into account the well-being of professionals.

He says mental health support should be mandatory for those being probed, a process that can take years.

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Dr Pecoraro also says practitioners must be allowed to have legal representation and not be publicly named when they're facing tribunals.

The group will lobby federal Health Minister Mark Butler to change laws to ensure the system is more balanced.

"We're trying to provide support and to lobby government to make sure that the regulatory bodies that look after healthcare workers are a bit more fair," Dr Pecoraro told AAP.

They're a little bit one sided at the moment and that's got a whole heap of unintended consequences, including the rash of suicides that we've seen, particularly amongst junior doctors.

The group wants there to be "consequences" for patients and professionals found to have made vexatious or frivolous complaints as well.

It's welcomed a probe into Medicare after reports from the ABC and Nine newspapers that $8 billion was being rorted from the system.

The government should go further, Dr Pecoraro said, and look at whether rebates are still fit for purpose and meeting expectations.

"Patients are complaining that the rebates they get from Medicare don't go anywhere near the cost of actually covering what it costs to see a doctor, and that's because the rebates have never been indexed since the time they were put in," he said.

The group was set up by Dr Anchita Karmakar last year after her case against a Professional Services Review of her billing practices was dismissed by the Federal Court.

It's currently a private company, but Dr Pecoraro said he will review the structure to ensure that it's appropriate for its role an advocacy organisation.

He said it wasn't a rival to the AMA or other professional bodies either, but would work in parallel with them to advocate for health professionals.

"At the moment, we're not at that level, we're still at the stage of speaking to people, but in everybody that I've spoken to from disparate organisations, everybody seems to be on board that this is a common goal that we can all argue towards," he added.

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