Medical board meltdown

The new national medical board has had to revert to state-based reporting of medical complaints after being swamped by enquiries over registration details. The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (APHRA) says it is fielding 3000 enquiries per day for medical and other health practitioners, which along with IT problems has forced it to redirect complaints handling back to the states. AHPRA says it will publish state-specific phone numbers within the next 24 hours to ensure “concerns can be raised efficiently about individual practitioners.” The agency says it is also increasing the number of staff to handle registration enquiries, but is calling for patience as IT teething issues are causing in transferring 1.5 million practitioner records into one integrated IT system. Doctors have previously reported being unable to get through to the medical board to confirm details of their registration. “We regret that these issues have caused frustration. Delays are not acceptable,” a statement from the AHPRA says. “We are working intensively on solutions and ask for patience as these take effect.” “Our priorities are to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the national registers, to respond effectively to enquiries from registrants, the public and employers and ensure the integrity of our processes.”...