A physiotherapist has been censured and fined for not creating records of treatment he provided to hundreds of patients between 2014 and 2017.
Photo: 123RF
John Appel worked in Hamilton at the time.
He failed on approximately 400 occasions to create a clinical record of the physiotherapy treatment he provided to patients.
Appel has been a registered physiotherapist since December 2002.
On 5 April 2018, ACC requested that Actus (the physiotherapist's former employer) provide copies of incomplete exam reports for the physiotherapist from 27 November 2014 to 31 January 2018.
On 6 April 2018, ACC was provided with the reports as requested.
On 5 September 2018, Actus received an email from ACC advising that it had identified several instances where treatment notes were either incomplete or missing, and that ACC required repayment of these treatment costs because it could not confirm that the treatments met ACC's funding criteria.
Actus was liable to repay ACC for the treatments invoiced by the physiotherapist, which amounted to $6541.77.
The Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal said Appel accepted the charge and acknowledged his conduct amounted to malpractice or negligence and that he had brought, or was likely to bring discredit to the profession.
The tribunal said it is a fundamental obligation of physiotherapists to document clinical examinations to ensure patient safety and continuity of care.
Its placed him on two-years supervision, with a focus on clinical record keeping standards, fined him $5000 and ordered him to pay 40 percent of the costs, amounting to $33,600.
He is also ordered to complete a course with a focus on record-keeping.