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The Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal hears disciplinary charges against registered health practitioners in New Zealand: doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, dentists, physiotherapists, psychologists and more than 20 professions in all. It operates under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003, and its purpose is to protect the public, not to punish. If a charge is proved, the Tribunal can cancel or suspend registration, impose conditions, censure, fine, and order the practitioner to pay a share of the costs.
The Tribunal sits nationally. Its decisions are published, and forthcoming hearings are listed publicly in advance.
If a complaint has been made about you
Take a breath. Most complaints never become Tribunal charges. Complaints about the care of a patient generally go first to the Health and Disability Commissioner, and matters that reach your registration authority are usually investigated by a Professional Conduct Committee, which can and often does resolve them without any charge.
But the early steps matter more than anything that happens later. You have a right to make written submissions and to be heard before the committee decides what to do, and that stage is where most cases are actually won. What you say, and when, should be decided with advice. We act for health practitioners at every stage, from the first letter to the hearing and any appeal. Wellington based, acting nationwide.
How the process works
- The matter starts. A patient complaint (usually via the Health and Disability Commissioner), a referral from your registration authority, a notification from an employer, or a report of a criminal conviction.
- Referral to a Professional Conduct Committee. A committee of two practitioners from your profession and one layperson investigates. You must be told the particulars and who is on the committee, and you have a short window, five working days, to object to its membership.
- Your opportunity to be heard. Before the committee makes any recommendation or determination, you must be given a reasonable opportunity to make written submissions and to be heard, in person or through a representative. A strong response here regularly ends the matter without a charge.
- The committee decides. It can recommend a competence or health review, counselling or conciliation, decide no further steps are needed, or lay a charge before the Tribunal.
- The Tribunal hearing. A panel of five: a legally qualified chair, three peers from your own profession, and one layperson. Hearings are public unless the Tribunal orders otherwise. The standard of proof is the civil standard, the balance of probabilities.
- Decision and penalty. If the charge is proved, the Tribunal decides penalty and costs. Decisions are published on the Tribunal’s website.
What is at risk
The Tribunal’s powers, in descending order of severity: cancellation of registration; suspension for up to three years; conditions on practice for up to three years; censure; a fine of up to $30,000; and an order to pay part or all of the costs of the investigation, prosecution and hearing.
Only a small proportion of complaints ever reach the Tribunal, and cancellation sits at the top of a range the Tribunal must use proportionately. But be realistic about costs: a costs order can reach back to the earlier investigation stages, not just the hearing, and if you are cleared you generally recover nothing, because no costs can be ordered against the prosecuting committee. Depending on your means, you may qualify for legal aid for Tribunal proceedings. Eligibility is worth checking at the very start, because it also affects your exposure to a costs order.
The first week
- Do not respond before taking advice. Your first written response will follow you through the whole process, and potentially into other forums.
- Notify your indemnifier or insurer immediately. Some indemnifiers expect to be told before you reply to anything, and late notification can prejudice cover.
- Diarise the deadlines that are already running. You have five working days from being told the committee’s membership to object to it, with reasons.
- Watch the suppression date. When a charge is filed there is an automatic temporary blackout, and the Tribunal sets a date for any name suppression application. If nothing is filed by that date, suppression lapses and you can be named.
- Secure the records you may lose access to if your employment changes.
- Do not resign in the hope it ends the matter. It does not. The Act applies to former practitioners too.
Frequently asked questions
Will I lose my registration?
Cancellation is generally reserved for the most serious cases. Most complaints are resolved before any charge is laid, and most proved charges end in something less: conditions, censure, costs, and publication.
Are HPDT hearings public?
Yes, by default. Hearings are held in public and forthcoming hearings are listed on the Tribunal’s website. The Tribunal can order that a hearing or part of it be private, but that is the exception.
Can I get name suppression?
Sometimes. Interim suppression at the start is common where it is applied for in time. Permanent suppression after an adverse finding is much harder: the starting point is publication, and the onus is on the practitioner. Deadlines kill more suppression applications than the merits do.
Who pays the costs?
If a charge is proved you can be ordered to contribute to the costs of the investigation, prosecution and hearing. In practice awards are commonly around half of reasonable costs or less, adjusted for cooperation, means and outcome. If the charge fails, you still bear your own costs. Depending on your means, legal aid may be available. Check eligibility early.
Can I just resign or give up my practising certificate?
No. The disciplinary process continues against former practitioners, and publication rules apply to them too. Resigning can also close off options that would otherwise be available.
Can I appeal?
Yes. Tribunal decisions are appealed to the High Court, generally within 20 working days. An appeal does not automatically pause the penalty, so a separate stay application is usually needed at the same time.
How Andy Bell can help
Andy Bell is an employment lawyer at Lane Neave who defends health practitioners in disciplinary matters and the employment problems that travel with them. Employer investigations, committee responses, suppression applications, hearings and appeals: the earlier the advice, the more options you have. The first consultation is free, and confidential.
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This page is general information, not legal advice. Deadlines in this jurisdiction are short and strict. Take advice on your own situation before acting.