The Health Ombudsman opened an investigation into the failure of a health service entity to make a mandatory notification to the Office of the Health Ombudsman following a reported allegation of serious misconduct involving a registered health practitioner employed by the health service.

Wider learnings and recommendations for service improvements

The investigation highlights opportunities for health services to ensure compliance with mandatory notification requirements by:

• ensuring they have clear procedures and guidelines in place outlining the decision-making framework, responsibilities and obligations for mandatory notifications related to health practitioners.
• making procedures and guidelines related to mandatory notification obligations accessible and known to all staff.
• developing standardised documentation and record-keeping practices for assessing and managing allegations related to health practitioners that may constitute notifiable conduct.
• ensuring they have a robust accountability framework to manage allegations related to health practitioners effectively, ensuring allegations are handled appropriately and mandatory notifications are made when required, in accordance with the regulatory obligations.