Wang v Dental Council of NSW [2016] NSWCATOD 90

Civil and Administrative Tribunal New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Wang v Dental Council of NSW [2016] NSWCATOD 90 Hearing dates: 1 July 2016 Date of orders: 12 July 2016 Decision date: 12 July 2016 Jurisdiction: Occupational Division Before: R C Titterton, Senior Member Decision: (1) The order of the Council that the practitioner be reprimanded be stayed until further order.

(2) Costs are reserved. Catchwords: Stay - relevant principles – no question of principle Legislation Cited: Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Cases Cited: Bova v Pharmacy Council of NSW [2014] NSWCATOD 40 Bentran Pty Ltd v Sabbarton [2014] NSWCATAP 37 Kesserwani v Chiropractic Council of NSW [2015] NSWCATOD 77 Kirbach v Health Care Complaints Commission [2015] NSWCADAD 195 NSW Bar Association v Stevens [2003] NSWCA 95 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Dr Di (Wendy) Wang (Applicant) Health Care Complaints Commission (Respondent) Representation: Solicitors: Esplin Solicitors (Applicant) Dental Council of NSW (Respondent) File Number(s): 1620115 Publication restriction: The Tribunal made a non-publication order, pending the hearing of the appeal, prohibiting the disclosure of the name of the author of the complaint dated 10 March 2015 to the Health Care Complaints Commission

REASONS FOR DECISION

The application 1. This an application by Dr Di Wendy Wang (the practitioner) for a stay of a decision of the Dental Council of NSW (the Council) made on 10 March 2016 under s148E of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (the National Law). 2. The Council found that the dental treatment provided by the practitioner and her patient records demonstrated that her skill, knowledge and judgment and care was significantly below the standard reasonably expected of a practitioner with her level of training and experience. The Council found her guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct within the meaning of s 139B of the National Law. 3. Consequent on its decision, the Council ordered that the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Authority (AHPRA) Public National Register record that the practitioner had been reprimanded by the Council for her conduct. The Council also made orders that, for the purpose of a Dental Council of NSW review of the practitioner's understanding and application of the Dental Board of Australia's "Guidelines on dental records" (the Guidelines) and Code of Conduct (the Code), the practitioner provide the Council, within three months, with (a) an overview of the steps she had taken to ensure that her patient records accord with the Guidelines and the Code and (b) a copy of de-identified records, including treatment plans and medical histories for six patients who have attended for consultation and treatment, which demonstrate compliance with the Guidelines and the Code. 4. The applicant subsequently filed an external appeal on 6 May 2016. She submits that the Council's decision of 10 March 2016, and its subsequent reasons of 6 April 2016, were incorrect in some 11 areas, and that the Tribunal should not have imposed the sanctions that it did. 5. For the reasons that follow, I have decided to grant the practitioner's application and to stay the Council's order of 10 March 2016, in so far as it relates to the imposition of a reprimand. It follows that the record of that reprimand on the AHPRA Public National Register record must be removed.