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XXXXXXXX Making a return to work plan for injured employees Ok, so you run your own practice and things are going smoothly. But what would happen if the roof fell in after a freak storm and the practice manager breaks her hip? What if she was making a good recovery, but she was advised not to sit still or stand still for long periods of time? Under the 1988 Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act (NSW) employers have an obligation to be involved in a return to work plan for an employee that has been injured in the workplace and to make reasonable adjustments to the position taking into account the employee’s ongoing disability. In a recent Victorian case, Butterworth v Independence Australia Services (Human Rights) [2015], an employer was faced with a similar issue under the Victorian Equal Opportunity legislation. There, the employee sustained serious neck and shoulder injuries and thereafter the employer had a positive obligation to make sincere and reasonable adjustments to her workplace activities to return her to employment. The employee was unable to return to the role previously held, being a fulltime call centre operator. The employer thought as a result they could terminate her employment on the grounds that she was unable to perform the inherent requirements of her position. The Court disagreed finding that the employer had failed to meet their obligations to the injured worker. They failed to adequately explore the physical possibilities through the questions put to the independent medical practitioner who was involved in examining her ability to return to her previous position. They failed to explore what other roles they had in the workplace and whether or not she may have been able to perform them. The Court found that there was no evidence they had even considered the possibility of reasonable alterations being made to enable the employee to return to work. In our example above with the practice manager, the employer is legislatively obliged to actively participate in a return to work plan. It may involve allowing a gradual return to work initially on lighter duties or reduced hours, then once further recovery is apparent, an increase of those duties. To meet their obligations, the employer needs to make a genuine and reasonable adjustment to the role to cater for the employee with a disability. The employer should even look into additional training, for example a bookkeeping course which would allow the practice manager more time to sit where they might otherwise be on their feet for long periods of time. The examples are infinite and there is no way to predict every possible scenario, but as an employer, you must be sure to explore all possibilities and consider the reasonable adjustments that you may be able to make in the practice to keep the employee with a disability fully engaged back at work. To meet legislative requirements the practice should document their policies and procedures setting out the process to manage employees who are injured at work. The key document is called the return to work program and it must sit in place with the insurer’s injury management program. dr. 30 I THE NSW DOCTOR I MARCH/APRIL 2016
INDUSTRY UPDATE Moving to greater transparency Medicines Australia breaks down how its new Code of Conduct affects <strong>doctor</strong>s. The new Medicines Australia Code of Conduct will increase transparency about the vital role of healthcare professionals in the development and use of new, innovative medicines. Healthcare professionals help to educate patients about medicines and their safe, ongoing use – a bond of trust that Medicines Australia wants to help make even stronger. From 1 October 2015, all Medicines Australia member companies are required to collect information about healthcare professionals who receive payments for consulting or speaker services and support to attend educational events through the payment or provision of airfares, accommodation or registration fees. Where companies have the agreement of the healthcare professional, this information will be published in a report on the individual company’s website. For the first year, this reporting will only happen with the agreement of the healthcare professional. This is to allow time for everyone to understand and appreciate the value of greater transparency. From 1 October 2016, reporting these payments will be mandatory – details will be reported whenever a Reportable Payment is made to a healthcare professional. REPORTABLE PAYMENTS UNDER THE NEW CODE: Payments for the provision of services by a healthcare professional: • Giving a lecture or presentation • Chairing an educational meeting • Providing advice as a member of an Advisory Board • Providing advice to a company as a medical expert Sponsorship to attend medical education meetings held within or outside of Australia, including: • Airfares • Accommodation • Conference registration fees The following information about each healthcare professional will be reported: • Healthcare professional’s name • Type of healthcare professional (i.e. medical practitioner, pharmacist, nurse) • Principal practice address • Relevant details about the purpose of the payment • The amount or value of the payment or support Where healthcare professionals request a Reportable Payment to be made to a third party, such as their hospital or clinic, these reportable payments must still be disclosed for the individual healthcare professional noting that the payment was made to a third party. REPORTING OF PAYMENTS TO HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS If a payment needs to be reported, companies will provide healthcare professionals with the opportunity to review and submit corrections before publication. Payments will be reported every six months, with two reports each year covering May to October and November to April. The first report will be published by 31 August 2016. Reports will be available for three years following publication on individual company websites and linked from the Medicines Australia website. Companies must comply with the Australian Privacy legislation (Privacy Act 1988 [Cth]) in regard to reporting individual healthcare professional data. From 1 October 2015, each company must establish a means to track whether consent has been given and maintain records which comply with Australia’s privacy legislation. IMPROVING HEALTH OUTCOMES AND BUILDING CONFIDENCE WITH PATIENTS The 18th Code of Conduct is a strong Code that builds on trust and ensures we continue to put the interests of patients first. Exchanging knowledge and skills leads to better treatments and increases a healthcare professional’s expertise, which means patients can be even more confident they’re getting the best of care. Companies support the education of healthcare professionals to develop knowledge and skills, which is important for patient care in a rapidly changing world. Companies also need advice from healthcare professionals, which leads to new and better medicines and treatments. Greater transparency will increase confidence by patients that the working relationship between the industry and healthcare professionals is ethical and appropriate. dr. Deborah Monk Director, Compliance Medicines Australia amansw.com.au I 31
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