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Welcome to the first newsletter of 2023. This year has started with gusto, and we have some important pieces of work scheduled.
Workforce and capability are high on the national agenda. A hybrid conference to be hosted by the Board in the second half of 2023 will allow medical radiation practice stakeholders to meet and discuss the workforce capacity and capability required to meet Australia’s future healthcare needs.
Following the Victorian Coroner’s findings in 2021 we are developing a video to highlight the importance of being able to recognise and respond to physiological deterioration. All medical radiation practitioners must capable of providing basic life support, and an annual assessment should be part of your continuing professional development.
Thanks to everyone who visited us at the ASMIRT conference in Sydney last weekend, it was great to say hello to so many people. We also look forward to attending the Australian & New Zealand Society of Nuclear Medicine (ANZSNM) conference in Adelaide in May.
Cara Miller
Chair, Medical Radiation Practice Board of Australia
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Have you ever considered the difference you could make as a member of the Medical Radiation Practice Board of Australia? Practitioner members have an important role in helping to develop policy, practice standards and guidance for the profession. Your expertise and input will contribute to helping ensure that safe practice standards are maintained.
If you enjoy thinking critically and focusing on the big picture, we are currently accepting applications to fill Board vacancies. If you are interested in patient safety and regulation of the profession, please apply before 7 May 2023.
The online application form has more information and you can download the frequently asked questions.
The Australian Society of Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy (ASMIRT) is conducting a survey of medical radiation practitioners about prescribing, supplying and administering scheduled medicines and the role they have within medical radiation practice.
Sally Kincaid, CEO of ASMIRT said, ‘This is a significant opportunity to contribute to the future of the profession on an issue that affects all patients and practitioners. The survey is voluntary, its anonymous and you don’t have to be an ASMIRT member to participate.’
The survey takes about 20 minutes to complete and can be accessed using this link: www.surveymonkey.com/r/ASMIRTMedicines.
Questions about the survey can be directed to Alan Malbon by emailing [email protected] or contacting ASMIRT on (03) 9419 3336.
The Board is sometimes asked to help with research projects relevant to medical radiation practice and the Board’s role in regulating the profession. We have agreed to provide information about a research project that is investigating Australian radiographers’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes towards evidence-based practice.
Participation in the research project is voluntary and all the information will be collected via an anonymous survey link. The participant information sheet for this research study is included at the start of the online survey. You can complete the 10-minute survey using this link: https://sydney.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_80mOSlavJ1n2sw6
Any questions should be directed to the principal investigator Laura Di Michele by emailing [email protected]. The research supervisor is Associate Professor Warren Reed who can be contacted at [email protected].
Ethics approval was granted by the University of Sydney, Human Research Ethics Committee Ref- 2022/832.
At its March 2023 meeting, the Board considered an updated report from the Medical Radiation Practice Accreditation Committee on the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology’s (RMIT) Bachelor of Applied Science (Medical Radiations) BP321 program. The Board approved the program as providing a qualification that makes graduates qualified and eligible for general registration. Those who graduate from the program after 27 March 2023 are no longer required to complete supervised practice as part of initial registration.
A new framework for supervised practice took effect from 1 April 2023. While supervised practice will continue in a familiar way, there are some changes, particularly to forms and administration that supervisors and supervisees will need to make themselves aware of. Go to the Board’s Supervised practice page for more information.
To help medical radiation practitioners better understand and meet their health record management obligations, the Board has developed two new health record management resources.
In addition to these requirements, you must also consider state, territory or Commonwealth legislation about health records and privacy that may apply.
Resources covering a range of topics to support your practice are available on Ahpra’s Resources page.
The Board’s quarterly registration data to 31 December 2022 has been published. At this date, there were 18,879 registered medical radiation practitioners (including 15 on the pandemic response sub-register). This figure includes 15,110 diagnostic radiographers, 2,807 radiation therapists and 1,319 nuclear medicine technologists.
There are 123 practitioners who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Straits Islander.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has published a fact sheet for health professionals on medical device patient information materials. It provides an overview of:
You can find the fact sheet on the TGA website.
Ahpra has recently established a new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Engagement and Support team (the support team) to help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants, registrants and stakeholders through the registration process. The support team is part of Ahpra’s commitments to providing culturally safe services to its applicants, registrants and stakeholders.
The support team will focus on helping recent applicants and new graduates who have identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander on their application form. This applies to applicants across all 16 registered professions in the National Scheme.
The team’s one-on-one services range from providing helpful tips and tricks for navigating the registration process to regular phone contact, updates and advice on disclosures made on application (for example, impairments or previous criminal history) that may require consideration by the National Board.
The support team is committed to ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practitioners in all professions get registered or renewed promptly so they can focus on their contributions to safe healthcare and to their communities. Keep an eye out for regular emails from the team or reach out for help at [email protected].
Members of the team will be attending community events and conferences relating to optometry practice, as well as the other professions.
If you are a student, contact your Indigenous Student Support Centre for information.
Building trust is fundamental to safe healthcare, as is responding effectively when a practitioner breaches that core responsibility to a patient. In Ahpra’s first Taking care podcast for the year we look at building trust in healthcare, how do we keep it, how can patients be better supported if things go wrong?
Rosalind Searle is a Professor of Human Resource Management and Organisational Psychology at the Adam Smith Business School at the University of Glasgow. She is inaugural director of the European Association of Work and Organisational Psychology (EAWOP) Impact Incubator.
Pointing to examples in Australia, Professor Searle provides a guide for strengthening processes and support mechanisms to boost trust in healthcare.
Another recent podcast is Racism makes us sick, with Associate Professor Carmen Parter discussing the impact of racism in healthcare. She points to her nursing days when there were almost no Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander faces seen working on the hospital ward and very little time given to the health needs of Indigenous people.
She talks about the cultural safety work being done and the challenges to make these policies a reality in our healthcare system.
Assoc. Prof. Parter has also seen intentional and unintentional racism in the system, which she is committed to helping reform. 'Racism makes us sick. Discrimination of all forms impacts the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people,’ she said.
'We've seen it. We’ve felt it. But now we actually have evidence to demonstrate that is the case, and it is now time for health policymakers and services to actually do something about discrimination or prejudiced practices in the workplace.’
In her work on Indigenous health and as a member of the Ahpra Board, Assoc. Prof. Parter is rolling out culturally safe policies across health and calling all to walk with her while tackling racism.
Our Taking care podcast series covers a wide range of current issues in patient safety and healthcare in conversation with health experts and other people in our community. Listen and subscribe by searching for 'Taking care' in your podcast player (for example Apple Podcasts or Spotify), or listen on the website.
Click on the image below to read the National Scheme newsletter. You can subscribe on the newsletter page.
Visit our website for the mandatory registration standards, codes, guidelines and FAQs.
Visiting the website regularly is the best way to stay in touch with news and updates from the Board.
Lodge an enquiry form via the website by following the Enquiries link on every web page under Contact us.
For registration enquiries, call 1300 419 495 (from within Australia) or + 61 3 9125 3010 (for overseas callers).
To update your contact details for important registration renewal emails and other Board updates, go to the Ahpra website: Update contact details.
Address mail correspondence to: Cara Miller, Chair, Medical Radiation Practice Board of Australia, GPO Box 9958, Melbourne, VIC 3001.