On 27 June 2005, the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance (Restricted Activities) Order 2005 was made by the Governor-General, pursuant to section 9 of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (“the HPCAA”).
Formal notification of that Order in Council appears at page 2396 of this New Zealand Gazette.
What are restricted activities? What does this mean
for you?
Section 9 of the HPCAA allows for specified activities to be restricted to registered health practitioners, in order to protect members of the public from the risk of serious or permanent harm.
From 1 August 2005, it will be illegal for anyone other than a health practitioner registered under the HPCAA to perform any of the activities listed below. It is an exception to this if the activity is performed in an emergency situation.
Any breaches will be investigated by the Ministry of Health and may be prosecuted. Anyone found guilty on summary conviction faces a fine of up to $30,000.
What restrictions are being put in place?
The restricted activities that are to be declared under the HPCAA are:
(a) Surgical or operative procedures below the gingival margin or the surface of the skin, mucous membranes or teeth.
(b) Clinical procedures involved in the insertion and maintenance of fixed and removable orthodontic or oral and maxillofacial prosthetic appliances.
(c) Prescribing of enteral or parenteral nutrition where the feed is administered through a tube into the gut or central venous catheter.
(d) Prescribing of an ophthalmic appliance, optical appliance or ophthalmic medical device intended for remedial or cosmetic purposes or for the correction of a defect of sight.
(e) Performing a psychosocial intervention with an expectation of treating a serious mental illness without the approval of a registered health practitioner.
(f) Applying high velocity, low amplitude manipulative techniques to cervical spinal joints.
Further information
This list will shortly be published on the Ministry of Health web site at
www.moh.govt.nz/hpca
This will be supplemented shortly by explanatory material that assists to clarify the intended scope and intention of these restrictions.
A key consideration is that the restrictions are not intended to restrict the activities of practitioners of established professions not regulated under the HPCAA, from carrying out activities that they are currently legitimately doing without risk of harm to the public.