A growing number of complaints against older doctors has prompted the Medical Board of Australia to announce today that it’s reviewing how doctors aged 70 or older are regulated. Two new options are on the table. The first would require doctors over 70 to undergo a detailed health assessment to determine their current and future “fitness to practise” in their particular area of medicine.
The second would require only general health checks for doctors over 70. A third option acknowledges existing rules requiring doctors to maintain their health and competence. As part of their professional code of conduct , doctors must seek independent medical and psychological care to prevent harming themselves and their patients.
So, this third option would maintain the status quo. Haven’t we moved on from set retirement ages? It might be surprising that stricter oversight of older doctors’ performance is proposed now. Critics of mandatory retirement ages in other fields – for judges, for instance – have long questioned whether these rules are “ still valid in a modern society ”.
However, unlike judges, doctors are already required to renew their registration annually to practise. This allows the Medical Board of Australia not only to access sound data about the prevalence and activity of older practitioners, but to assess their eligibility regularly and to conduct performance assessments if and when they are needed. What has prompted these proposals? This latest proposal .