Notifications, Mandatory Notifications and Self-Reporting
Two different streams
Candidates must distinguish voluntary notifications (anyone can raise a concern about a practitioner) from mandatory notifications, which certain people - practitioners and employers - are legally required to make. A third stream is self-reporting, where the practitioner notifies the Board about defined events affecting themselves.
Mandatory notification triggers
Practitioners must notify when they form a reasonable belief that another registered practitioner has:
- practised while intoxicated by alcohol or drugs;
- engaged in sexual misconduct in connection with practice;
- departed from accepted professional standards in a way that places the public at substantial risk of harm; or
- contravened a condition or undertaking on their registration.
Employers have a parallel but slightly different obligation, triggered by significantly departing from standards or placing the public at risk. The trap is assuming a mandatory notification is required for every complaint - it is not; the threshold is reasonable belief and the listed categories.
Self-reporting
Practitioners must tell the Board within a set period (commonly seven days) of defined events: being charged with or convicted of an offence punishable by imprisonment, having registration or registration action taken elsewhere, or changes to their criminal history or practice circumstances. The trap is thinking a charge that is later dropped need not be reported - the obligation attaches at charge.
Worked rule of thumb
Ask two questions: Is this one of the listed categories? and Do I hold a reasonable belief? If both are yes, notify. If the concern is a general competence or communication issue, it is a voluntary notification or an employer matter, not a mandatory one.
Exam traps
- Confusing the practitioner threshold with the employer threshold.
- Assuming mandatory notification is punitive; it is protective.
- Missing that self-reporting is time-bound.