15.2 Annual practising certificate
All clinicians, including doctors and nurses, require an annual practicing certificate (APC). If a clinician operates without an APC, they cannot lawfully practice, and are not covered by indemnity insurance or entitled to government funding.
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The practice ensures health practitioners/clinical team members maintain their annual practising certificate (APC). |
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The Annual Practising Certificate
All clinicians, including doctors and nurses, require an annual practicing certificate (APC).
If a clinician operates without an APC, they cannot lawfully practice, and are not covered by indemnity insurance or entitled to government funding.
To obtain accurate evidence of current APC status and conditions for GPs and nurses, search the MCNZ or NCNZ registers. (The links to these sites are also provided in the resources below). When providing evidence of APC’s in smartsheet, provide individual links for each health professional in the practice comments field (it is no longer necessary to upload hardcopies of APC’s.)
The practice needs to have a robust system to ensure all the clinicians in the workplace have a current APC.
Some ways of doing this could be to create registers or charts showing expiry dates of APCs, including those practicing under conditions, and set up task reminders.
Liability insurance
Professional liability insurance is not a requirement of the Foundation Standard. It is, however strongly recommended by professional associations that practices and clinicians take professional advice on their potential liabilities and insurance options.