AHPRA should only investigate doctors in cases involving the safety of their patients, under reforms being suggested by Federal MPs  to reduce stress on doctors and time wasted on “meritless” complaints.

Instead, low-risk notifications should initially be sent back to a doctor’s practice for management, a new report by the Community Affairs References Committee says.

It’s one of 14 recommendations made by the committee, which was told the watchdog was failing to close the high numbers of “meritless” or “frivolous” complaints quickly enough. 

“The example was given [to us] of a notification about a doctor [who] was eight minutes late to an appointment,” the committee wrote.