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National Registration of Medical Practitioners

As a psychiatrist and President of the Medical Practitioners Board of Victoria (MPBV) I feel obliged to respond to our President’s message in a recent edition of Australasian Psychiatry.1 Dr Prytula suggests that the NRAS is an initiative of the Rudd Labor Government in response to the Patel case in Queensland. The COAG agreement for the NRAS was in fact signed by the Labor Premiers under the Howard Coalition Government. The idea of national registration of medical practitioners, to provide greater protection for the community by ensuring that all registered medical practitioners in Australia have to meet the same requirements, preceded the COAG agreement and the Patel case by several years. The notion that any registration system can completely eliminate the risks of another Patel or Shipman (in the United Kingdom) is fanciful.