Today’s question relates to Recency of Practice for paramedics.  My correspondent says:

When I renew my Paramedic AHPRA Registration each year I note the definition of Recency of Practice is very broad, even mentioning volunteer work.

I have recently moved into other work (First Aid Officer) where I use my Paramedic skills each day to perform my job in a very busy government secondary school in Melbourne.

I am not employed as a Paramedic in my job title but use my skills every day. Does this work count towards “recency of practice”?

The Paramedicine Board’s Registration Standard: Recency of Practice (17 May 2018) says (p. 2; emphasis added):

To meet this registration standard you must complete a minimum of:

a. 450 hours of practice in the previous three years, or

b. 150 hours of practice in the previous 12 months, or

c. 750 hours of practice in the previous five years with

no continuous absence from practice of greater than two years.

This standard sets minimum requirements to maintain recency of practice. Meeting these requirements doesn’t automatically satisfy your professional and ethical responsibilities to ensure that you recognise and work within the limits of your competence and maintain adequate knowledge and skills to provide safe and effective care.

‘Practice’ is defined (on p. 4) as:

… any role, whether remunerated or not, in which the individual uses their skills and knowledge as a health practitioner in their profession. Practice in this context is not restricted to the provision of direct clinical care. It also includes using professional knowledge (working) in a direct non-clinical relationship with clients, working in management, administration, education, research, advisory, regulatory or policy development roles, and any other roles that impact on the safe, effective delivery of services in the profession.

‘Recency of practice’ (p. 4) means:

… a health practitioner has maintained an adequate connection with, and recent practice in the profession since qualifying for, or obtaining registration.

When seeking registration, you need to identify that you meet the recency of practice requirements, that is whether you have used your ‘skills and knowledge as a health practitioner in [your] profession’. As the Standard says (p. 2):

By declaring on an application that you meet the Board’s recency requirements, you are declaring that you have the required minimum practice hours within your current scope of practice.

Fundamentally then it is up to each paramedic to reflect on what they have done in the last one, three or five years and decide for themselves whether that work, whether paid or not, ‘has maintained an adequate connection with, and recent practice in the profession’ of paramedicine.   It does not mean that they have exercised the full range of skills of the profession; it does not mean they have been an ICP or worked in a jurisdictional ambulance service. It means they have maintained contact with the profession ‘within your current scope of practice’.

Conclusion

Being a first aid officer ‘in a very busy government secondary school’ would count as recency of practice if the paramedic believes they are using their paramedic skills and knowledge (and can keep ‘records as evidence that you meet the requirements of this standard for five years in case you are audited’).  But just because it allows them to renew their registration it does not mean they could then move back into practice in say a jurisdictional ambulance service if they do not have recency or competence in particular skills that would be used there, but that have not been used in their current position.  In that case it is incumbent on the paramedic to reflect on the ‘the limits of [their] competence’ and if necessary, undertake further training or CPD to get their skills set up to the standard required for the new job.

This blog is a general discussion of legal principles only.  It is not legal advice. Do not rely on the information here to make decisions regarding your legal position or to make decisions that affect your legal rights or responsibilities. For advice on your particular circumstances always consult an admitted legal practitioner in your state or territory.