EmailPolicy
It is essential that all medical practitioners who have independent responsibility for patient care within health services in Victoria are appropriately credentialled and have their scope of clinical practice defined in accordance with both their level of skill and experience and the capability of the health service. The definition of a health service for this project means all public hospitals, public health services and multi-purpose services established under the Health Services Act 1988.
The former Australian Council for Safety and Quality in Health Care developed a national standard to guide this important process: Standard for credentialling and defining the scope of clinical practice, July 2004.
Building on the national standard, the Victorian Department of Health (the department) formulated a consistent approach for credentialling and defining the scope of clinical practice to be implemented in all Victorian publicly funded health services.
The first statewide version of the policy Credentialling and defining the scope of clinical practice for medical practitioners in Victorian health services - a policy handbook was released by the department in July 2007 and applies to all senior medical staff appointed to a public health service.
The policy was updated in 2009 with an expanded appeals process, changes to the forms (including dentist-specific forms), and added requirements for referee checks and working with children certification.
In 2009 the policy was also extended to include the credentialling of general practitioners and other senior doctors who provide services to residents of publicly operated residential aged care facilities.
The policy has been updated to incorporate the additional processes that senior medical staff now undertake as part of Partnering for performance – a performance development and support process (Department of Health 2010). It provides a process for regularly reviewing a senior doctor’s performance, and supports the credentialling cycle and the ongoing relationship between the doctor and the organisation for which they work.
This 2011 update includes changes to reflect the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act 2009, which came into effect on 1 July 2010.
This update also includes further guidance for health services on verification processes.
It is expected that health services should have fully implemented this policy by October 2012.
