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Legislation

THE HEALTH PRACTITIONERS COMPETENCE ASSURANCE ACT 2003

When it came into effect on 18 September 2003, the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act built on the framework created by earlier legislation, particularly the Medical Practitioners Act 1995.  The core concepts of the Medical Practitioners Act were carried forward into the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (the Act) and adjusted to generic terms that provide a framework applicable to all health practitioners, not just doctors.

The Act is about public safety.  Its purpose is to protect the health and safety of New Zealanders by providing mechanisms to ensure the life-long competence of health practitioners.

The Act contains a number of key protections to ensure that:

• Only practitioners who are registered under the Act are able to use the titles protected by the Act or claim to be practising a profession that is regulated by the Act; and
• Registered health practitioners are not permitted to practise outside their scopes of practice; and
• Regulatory authorities are required to certify that a practitioner is competent to practise in their scope of practice when they issue an annual practising certificate; and
• Certain activities are restricted and only able to be performed by registered health practitioners.

Administration of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003

The Ministry of Health administers the Act.  This includes managing the consultation processes to enable the Minister to appoint the members of the authorities. However, while the Ministry has certain functions under the Act, the primary responsibility and accountability rests with the relevant regulatory authorities.  The Act is very much about handing to the regulatory authorities, responsibility for, and providing them with tools for, ensuring that health practitioners are, and remain, competent and fit to practise.  In turn, checks and balances are in place to hold the regulatory authorities accountable for compliance with the provisions of the Act, through the Minister to Parliament.  These include the Minister's powers to appoint authority members, to determine mechanisms to facilitate resolution of disputes overs scopes of practice and to gazette restricted activities than can be performed only by practitioners registered under the Act.

Obtaining a Copy of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003

A copy of the Act can be purchased from Bennetts Government Bookshop or Whitcoulls Ltd.  An electronic copy of the Act is also available (www.legislation.govt.nz)