Media statement

15 December 2015

Response to The Age

  • Regulators are investigatingDr Alan Kosky, and in the meantime,have received an undertaking from him to not practise medicine pending the finalisation of an Immediate Action process.
  • Thisundertakingis detailed on the register of practitioners.
  • The Medical Board of Australia has the power to take immediate Action to limit a practitioner’s registration in some way to manage risk to patients, pending other inquiries.
  • AHPRA and theMedical Board of Australia have not had any concerns raised with them in the past about DrKosky’s end of life care for any patients.
  • Theregulatory principles of the National Schemeguide the Board’s decision-making.
  • Regulatory action is taken in relation to known risk to patients, based on the available evidence.
  • The Nagambie Hospital’s decision to withdraw DrKosky’sprivileges,was raised with AHPRA at that time. This notification to theregulators did not raise concerns about DrKosky’s end of life care to patients.In this case, the Board decided the matter had been dealt with appropriately locally as an employment issue and did not warrant further regulatory action to manage risk to patients.
  • We are not able to comment any further now, because our processes must be fair and we must not compromise ongoing inquiries.
  • The Board and AHPRA call on employers, health practitioners and the community to report their concerns about poor quality care, so regulators can act when needed to keep the public safe.
  • In October 2015,AHPRA called for more reporting, to manage risk to patients.
  • The Board holds all registered medical practitioners to account against the standards it sets.
  • Section 3.12 ofGood medical practice, a code of conduct for doctors in Australia, outlines the Board’s expectations in relation to end of life care.

‘If we are not told about concerns, we are not able to do our job as a regulator to manage possible risk to patients,’ AHPRA CEO Martin Fletcher said.

‘We want to play our part in creating a more open culture in health services, and recognise that there are particular challenges that could inhibit reporting in small communities, but patient safety has to come first,’ he said.

Anyone can report their concern about a registered health practitioner to AHPRA on 1300 419 495 or go to

Mandatory reporting

The law requires employers and registered health practitioners to report serious concerns and protects them when making reports in good faith.

Under the National Law, employers and registered health practitioners are required to report ‘notifiable conduct’, including when the practitioner has ‘placed the public at risk of harm’ through a ‘significant departure from accepted professional standards’.

AHPRA is the regulatory agency responsible for receiving and investigating complaints about individual registered health practitioners, working with Boards. The Health Services Commissioner is responsible for managing complaints about health systems, and health services have quality and safety systems and reporting responsibilities.

AHPRA and the National Boards work very closely with the Health Services Commissioner to ensure that whatever door a complaint about a registered health practitioner comes through, the right agency deals with it.

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Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency

G.P.O. Box 9958 | Melbourne VIC 3001 |