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Other Parliamentary SpeechesThis page is dedicated to Peter's speeches during parliament that do not fall under Questions or Questions without notice. They range from debating legislation, reporting on events or issues in his seat of Southport and his Ministerial Statements.
Health Legislation Amendment Bill |
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| Posted by Administrator (admin) on Oct 15 2003 |
| Other Speeches >> |
Mr LAWLOR (Southport-ALP) (3.13 p.m.): I love following the brains trust of the One Nation Party. It gives even me an opportunity to sound good. I will confine my remarks on changes to the complaint and disciplinary processes of the Nursing Act, which is incorporated within this Health Legislation Amendment Bill.
Nurses are among Australia's most respected professional groups. They are recognised asskilled health care providers, combining education and professionalism with a caring concern for patients. Each year nurses top the Morgan poll for honesty and ethics. However, as in any profession there are occasionally consumer complaints. Each year the total number of complaints about nurses to the Queensland Nursing Council is relatively small in proportion to the total number of registered and enrolled nurses who are authorised to practise in Queensland. Approximately 46,000 nurses are registered and enrolled by the council. However, in the financial year 2001-02, only 117 complaints were made to the council.
The protection of health consumers is a key objective of the Nursing Act. However, it has become apparent that the grounds for complaints under the Nursing Act are narrow when compared to the grounds that apply to other registered health practitioners in Queensland and nurses in other jurisdictions. Therefore, the bill amends the Nursing Act to insert new grounds and processes for complaints similar to those in the Health Practitioner (Professional Standards) Act.
Currently, under the Nursing Act an aggrieved person may make a complaint to the Queensland Nursing Council only about the conduct of a nurse, a midwife or other person authorised to practise nursing. Once the amendments provided for under this bill come into effect, not only will a complaint be able to be made about a nurse's conduct but also a nurse's practice or other matter that appears to provide grounds for disciplinary action, or a matter for which a complaint could be made under section 57 of the Health Rights Commission Act 1991. In addition, the legislation will define more clearly who may make a complaint, for example, by the user of a nursing or midwifery service; an entity acting on behalf of a user of a nursing midwifery service; another nurse, midwife or authorised person; or another regulatory authority.
In order to ensure that the grounds for complaint are compatible with the new grounds for disciplinary action under the Nursing Act, the bill also inserts new grounds for disciplinary action that are
similar to those contained in the Health Practitioner (Professional Standards) Act. Disciplinary action will be able to be taken against a nurse or midwife, for example, if they behaved in a way that constitutes unsatisfactory professional conduct, which is defined to include professional conduct that is of a lesser standard than that which might reasonably be expected by the public or professional peers; they arefound to have an impairment, for example, drug dependency, that impacts on their professional conduct; they have been convicted of an offence under state or Commonwealth legislation related to the practice of nursing; or they have been convicted of an indictable offence.
In order to ensure the proper protection of the public from health practitioners who practise in an unsatisfactory manner, this government is committed to establishing a coordinated and integrated
approach to the management of health complaints about registered health practitioners, including nurses. This bill builds upon those amendments made to the Nursing Act in the past to clarify the respective roles and responsibilities of the Health Rights Commission and the Queensland Nursing Council. Most notably, the bill creates parallel grounds for complaint to the Queensland Nursing Council and the Health Rights Commission. It also requires consultation to occur in respect of various actions that may be taken under the Nursing Act.
The Queensland Nursing Council will be required to provide the Health Rights Commissioner with copies of all concerns raised regarding the health of nurses, the action taken by the council in respect of such matters, and when the immediate suspension powers under the act are used. These amendments will ensure that the information available to the Health Rights Commissioner about nurses is consistent with the information provided about other registered health practitioners.
The Queensland Nursing Council has a strong history of working collaboratively with consumers, the nursing profession and groups such as the Health Rights Commission to develop, implement and
monitor standards for nursing. The bill will enable the council to take this work a step further. In order to provide guidance to nurses, midwives and other persons authorised to practise nursing as to appropriate professional conduct or nursing practice, the amendments to the Nursing Act will empower the Queensland Nursing Act to develop or adopt other entities' codes of practice. Codes of practice will be admissible as evidence in disciplinary proceedings brought against a nurse, midwife or other person authorised to practise nursing under the act.
An extensive consultation process informed the amendments to the Nursing Act, which are before us today. On behalf of the Minister for Health and my parliamentary colleagues, I wish to acknowledge the contribution made by the Queensland Nursing Council, the Queensland Nurses Union of Employees, the Australian and New Zealand College of Mental Health Nurses, the Australian College of Midwives, the Royal College of Nursing Australia, the Directors of Nursing Association and the HealthRights Commissioner. I commend the minister and her staff and I commend the bill to the House. Last changed: [PUBLISHED_DATE] at 9:00 AM
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