An employer notification to your Council or Board in New Zealand means your employer has given the Registrar of your responsible authority written notice about you because the law required it. Under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (the HPCA Act), an employer must notify when a practitioner resigns or is dismissed for reasons relating to competence, and must notify when it has reason to believe a practitioner's health may affect their ability to practise. A notification is not a finding. It starts a process in which the authority decides what to do next. Do three things now. Get advice before you write to anyone. Ask for a copy of what your employer sent. Then prepare a response with evidence of what you have done since.
What a mandatory notification is
The HPCA Act places duties on employers and on other practitioners to tell a responsible authority about a risk to the public. The duty that applies tells you which route the matter is likely to take.
- Section 34, resignation or dismissal for reasons relating to competence. When a practitioner resigns or is dismissed from employment for reasons relating to competence, the employer must promptly give the Registrar written notice of the reasons. Resigning does not prevent the notification; the duty applies to a resignation as well as a dismissal.
- Section 34, a concern from another practitioner. A practitioner who has reason to believe another practitioner may pose a risk of harm to the public by practising below the required standard of competence can notify the Registrar.
- Section 45, a health notification. Health practitioners, employers and others who have reason to believe a practitioner is unable to perform the functions of their profession because of a mental or physical condition must notify the Registrar.
An employer can also pass on a concern about conduct, such as a boundary with a patient or a colleague, a privacy breach or a question of honesty, which the authority deals with on the conduct route.
What your employer sends and what the authority does with it
The notice sets out the reasons: the events, the concerns about your practice, any employment process that took place and how your employment ended or changed. It can include records, incident reports, audit results and statements. The authority reads it, can ask your employer for more, and tells you that it has received a notification.
The authority then decides the route. For a competence concern it can order a competence review under section 36, and it can make interim orders while the review is under way where it considers there is a risk to the public. For a health notification it uses the health process under the HPCA Act, which is confidential, separate from a conduct matter and is not a finding of misconduct. For a conduct concern it can refer the matter to a Professional Conduct Committee, and section 69 lets it suspend you or set conditions while the Committee investigates if it considers that necessary to protect the public.
Your rights
- To know what has been said. Ask the authority, in writing, for a copy of the notification and the material it will rely on. The Privacy Act 2020 also gives you the right to ask your employer and the authority for the personal information they hold about you.
- To respond. The authority gives you the chance to respond before it decides what to do, and the date in its letter is the deadline.
- To be heard before an interim order. Before an authority suspends you or sets interim conditions, it gives you the chance to make submissions and to be heard.
- To be represented. You can have your indemnity insurer, your professional association or union, or a lawyer act for you and attend any meeting with you.
What happens step by step
- Your employer notifies. The Registrar receives written notice of the reasons, with any records your employer sends.
- The authority tells you. It writes to you with the notification or a summary of it, the route it is considering and a date for your response.
- You respond. With your adviser, you set out the facts, your account of the employment process, what fell short and what you have done since.
- The authority decides the route. No further action, counselling, a competence review, the health process or a referral to a Professional Conduct Committee.
- Interim orders are considered. Where the authority considers there is a risk, it can propose conditions or a suspension, and you are heard first.
- The review, health process or investigation runs. It ends in an outcome, from no further action to conditions on your scope of practice or a charge before the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal.
The guide to what happens after a notification to your Council or Board sets out every route, and the guide to interim suspension and conditions explains how interim orders are made and lifted.
How it interacts with your employment process
Your employer's process and the authority's process are separate. Your employer decides about your employment under employment law and your contract. The authority decides about your registration and your practising certificate under the HPCA Act. The outcome of one does not decide the other, but the documents from one can be read in the other: what you say in an employment meeting can reach the authority, and what you say to the authority can be read by your employer.
If you are negotiating how your employment ends, ask your adviser before you sign anything. The reasons stated and the terms agreed can be read by the authority, and a resignation for reasons relating to competence is notified in the same way as a dismissal. If you are moving to a new employer, ask your adviser what the authority expects you to tell them while the matter is open.
How to respond well
- Get advice the same day. For doctors the Medical Protection Society, for nurses NZNO, for midwives NZCOM, and for other professions your indemnity insurer, professional association or union. Tell them about both the employment process and the notification.
- Answer the concern, not the employer. Set out the facts from the record, what fell short and what you understand now. Where your employer's account is wrong, show the difference from the record and leave it there.
- Show what you have done since. Supervision arranged, an audit of your practice, a period of practice in a supported role, and dated certificates for courses completed.
- Offer what will help. Ask your adviser whether to offer supervision or a voluntary undertaking, which the authority can weigh when it considers interim orders.
- Be open about health where it applies. If the notification is about health, engage with the health process with your adviser's help; the authority's concern there is your ability to practise safely, not blame.
The guide to writing a response to a notification sets out the structure of the response itself.
Where remediation fits
An employer notification asks the authority to decide whether you can practise safely now, and that decision rests on evidence. Dealing with a Complaint or Investigation covers how to engage with a regulatory process and an employment process at the same time. Ensuring Clinical Competence and Patient Safety covers how to show an authority that a competence concern has been addressed. Remediation for Fitness to Practise covers how to build the plan the authority reads; the guide to showing insight and building a remediation plan explains what goes in it.
Each course is NZ$200, takes 2 CPD hours, is self-paced with immediate access, and ends with a dated certificate issued by Healthcare Ethics Courses that you can submit to your Council or Board or put in your remediation plan. The remediation courses for every Council and Board are on the hub page, and the Council and Board investigation process explained shows each stage. Profession guides describe a Nursing Council competence review, what happens after a notification to the Nursing Council about a nurse and after a notification to the Medical Council about a doctor.
Sources and further reading
- New Zealand Legislation: the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003, including sections 34, 36, 45 and 69, and the Privacy Act 2020.
- Nursing Council of New Zealand: how the Council handles notifications and competence concerns about nurses.
- Medical Council of New Zealand: how the Council handles notifications and performance concerns about doctors.
Frequently asked questions
Does resigning stop my employer from notifying my Council or Board?
No. Under section 34 of the HPCA Act, the employer's duty to notify applies when a practitioner resigns for reasons relating to competence as well as when they are dismissed. Resigning before a process ends does not remove the duty, and the notice will set out the reasons as the employer sees them. Ask your adviser before you resign or sign any agreement about how your employment ends, because the authority can read the terms.
Can I see what my employer sent to the authority?
Ask. Write to the authority and ask for a copy of the notification and the material it will rely on, so that your response can answer it. The Privacy Act 2020 also gives you the right to ask your employer and the authority for the personal information they hold about you. Your adviser can make these requests for you, and can ask for more time to respond if the material arrives late.
Is an employer notification the same as a finding against me?
No. A notification is the employer telling the authority what it has seen and why it acted. The authority then decides what to do, after hearing from you. It can take no further action, counsel you, order a competence review, use the health process or refer the matter to a Professional Conduct Committee. Your response, and the evidence of what you have done since, is part of what it decides on.
Will the authority wait for my employment process to finish?
Not necessarily. The two processes are separate, and the authority can act on a notification while an employment process or a personal grievance is still running. Where it considers there is a risk to the public, it can consider interim orders straight away, after giving you the chance to be heard. Tell your adviser about both processes so that what you say in one is consistent with what you say in the other.
What if the notification is about my health?
A health notification under section 45 goes through the health process, which is separate from a conduct matter and is handled in confidence. The authority's question is whether a condition affects your ability to practise safely, and it can ask for a medical examination and agree conditions or a voluntary undertaking with you. It is not a finding of misconduct. Engage with the process openly, with your adviser's help, and keep a copy of everything you send.