Avant has prepared a set of frequently asked questions to assist members to better understand the medico-legal implications where members may:
- currently employ a midwife to assist practice and wish to continue the employment of that midwife
- plan to enter into a collaborative arrangement with an eligible midwife
- may be required to become involved in the care of a midwife’s patient – e.g. to assist in an emergency situation.
Inevitably, the questions and answers will evolve as a number of currently unresolved issues become clarified.
National reform
Under the national reform, the government has announced the introduction of:
- guidelines for collaborative maternity care
- an insurance scheme for ‘eligible midwives’ (excluding cover for planned homebirths).
Guidelines
Guidelines for collaborative care arrangements are currently being developed by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG), Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) and the Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA). Visit ranzcog.edu.au, racgp.org.au and health.gov.au for further detail.
Your responsibilities
Irrespective of your preferred approach to working with midwives it is generally accepted that medical practitioners have an ethical responsibility to provide medical assistance to a person in need of urgent or emergency care - even where there is no pre-existing doctor-patient relationship.
In some circumstances, a medical practitioner (in addition to this ethical obligation) also has a legal duty to provide medical care in an emergency. Factors governing whether a legal duty will be owed, include:
- whether the request to attend is made of the medical practitioner in his/her professional capacity
- the degree of physical proximity between the patient and practitioner
- the practitioner’s competence to respond to the emergency, such as being appropriately qualified, having the necessary equipment and being available (i.e. not currently providing urgent treatment)
- the condition of the person in need being made known to the practitioner.
Accordingly, subject to the above considerations, practitioners would generally have both an ethical responsibility and a legal duty to provide urgent medical assistance to a person in need.
For more information login to access these FAQs from the ‘Hot topics’ page in our Members Only section.
Please call 1800 128 268 for further medico-legal advice on this matter, or for detailed information about your Avant Insurance cover.