Alcohol is Australia’s most widely used social drug

Alcohol is Australia’s most widely used social drug, but it can cause significant harm to people and society, especially when consumed in excess. To control the effects of alcohol on individuals and the community, every Australian state and territory has laws governing the use and service of alcohol. Especially we welcome the illumination to the area ‘Practice while inebriated by liquor or medications’ (section 140(a)). We know about warnings made to AHPRA which proposed that practitioner may have rehearsed while inebriated, while the confirmation supporting this was just that the expert may have gone to the work environment the day following being seen at a private social capacity at which liquor was expended. (Background to the Health Ombudsman Act 2013 (Qld) and relationship with National Law)The Health Ombudsman Act commenced on 1 July 2014 and is the single point of entry for all health service complaints in Queensland. The Health Ombudsman deals with complaints relating to health practitioners registered under the National Law, as well as health practitioners that are not registered. The mandatory notification obligation applies to all practitioners and employers of practitioners in relation to the notifiable conduct of practitioners. The obligation applies to practitioners in all registered health professions, not just those in the same health profession as the practitioner. It also applies where the notifying practitioner is also the treating practitioner for a practitioner, except in Western Australia and Queensland in certain circumstances (see Section 4 Exceptions to the requirement of practitioners to make a mandatory notification of these guidelines for details).