PBA Revises Health Practitioner Guidelines

The Pharmacy Board of Australia, as one of the National Boards regulating registered health practitioners in Australia through the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (the National Scheme), has published its revised guidelines, code & policy. The document covers advertising guidelines, mandatory notifications guidelines, the revised code of conduct and a new social media policy all of which come into effect from mid-March 2014. Pharmacy Board of Australia Chair, adjunct associate professor Stephen Marty said that the documents are the result of extensive consultations late last year on the draft versions, part of a scheduled review three years into the National Scheme and are the first set of revised documents to be released this year, with more to come later in 2014.

“The National Boards have an ongoing focus on best practice regulation in the public interest, and in public protection,” he said. “The experiences from the first three years of the National Scheme were applied when these documents were being reviewed to make sure that they are clear and make it easier for practitioners to understand their obligations, and for members of the community to understand what is expected of health practitioners.” Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) chief executive officer, Martin Fletcher, also reinforced that the decision was made to publish the documents now to help practitioners, employers and members of the community understand what National Boards expect from practitioners.

Click here to see the full media release and full standards.

Source: pharmacydaily.com.au, Monday 17 February 2014