Full steam ahead on the SS "external regulator"? Mandatory reporting, professional independence, self-regulation and patient harm.
Mandatory reporting by medical practitioners of their colleagues who demonstrate poor clinical performance, are intoxicated while working or have sexual relations with patients, has been recently legislated for in New South Wales, and is likely to become law in Queensland. Somewhat similar legislation was introduced in New Zealand in relation to most health practitioners, but resistance, particularly from the New Zealand Medical Association, resulted in discretionary, as opposed to mandatory, reporting. The National Registration and Accreditation Scheme for the Health Professions in Australia is also canvassing mandatory reporting for 10 major health profession registrants, as part of its processes for dealing with performance, health and conduct matters. Mandatory reporting is an important incursion on the self-regulation functions and privileges of the health professions. The medical profession, in particular, has resisted mandatory reporting provisions, but appears not to discern that its allegiance to a model of traditional rather than transparent self-regulation may be self-defeating.