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FORM R2 Choosing a relevant Independent Medical Specialist The chief executive officer (or delegate) may direct an employee to be examined by a doctor. Pursuant to the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, a doctor is a person registered under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act 2009 to practise in the medical profession, other than as a student. Care must be taken to ensure that a person who is not a doctor is not appointed to conduct the examination. Therefore, it must be ensured that the person conducting the examination is currently registered on the Medical Board of Australia’s Register of Medical Practitioners. It would be acceptable for the doctor to refer the employee to another medical or allied health specialist so that the doctor is appraised of further information, but it is the doctor who conducts the primary examination and provides the report. The standard issued by the Medical Board of Australia, entitled ‘List of specialties, fields of specialty practice, and related specialist titles’, which defines the scope of the different types of medical practitioners. Only people who practise as one of these types of medical practitioners may be appointed under Part 7 of the Public Service Act 2008 to examine an employee. Examples include: Psychiatrist – Diagnoses and treats mental, emotional and behavioural disorders and prescribes medications and treatment to promote or restore mental health. Occupational Physician – Are trained to assess a person’s capacity for work. They assess, treat and prevent musculoskeletal disorders and determine whether the condition is related to work. Orthopaedic Surgeon – A specialist surgeon who diagnoses and provides surgical treatment of conditions of the musculoskeletal system including conditions of bones, joints, ligaments, tendons, muscles and nerves. Rheumatologist – Specialises in the diagnosis and management of inflammatory conditions of joints, muscles and soft tissues. Neurologist – Diagnoses and provides non-surgical management of conditions of the brain, spine and peripheral nerves. Neurologists can assess all neurological conditions and cognitive deficits. Neurosurgeon – A specialist surgeon who specialises in conditions and surgery of the brain and spine. An Independent Medical Specialist should be chosen who, not only has expertise in the relevant area of mental or physical illness or disability, but also that the employee has not received treatment from as a prior or current patient. There should also not be a bias or perception of bias in the choice of the specialist, so that the choice is seen as fair and just. It is therefore, important to consider if the employee has previously been examined by the specialist, the circumstances in which this occurred, any report that was obtained, the relationship between the specialist and employee, and the availability of other specialists. A medical assessment and report could be obtained from a specialist who had previously examined the employee, provided they could be shown to be independent, had the relevant expertise and the employee was not a current or past patient. Page 1 of 1