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Closing a practice
Closing a private psychiatric practice is a major stage in a psychiatrist’s career and can be challenging.
Closing a practice involves addressing a range of professional and legal responsibilities, including upholding a duty of care for patients with ongoing and acute mental health conditions.
Section 4.16 of the Medical Board of Australia’s Good medical practice: a code of conduct for doctors in Australia, states:
When closing or relocating your practice, good medical practice involves:
- Giving advance notice where this is possible.
- Facilitating arrangements for the continuing medical care of all your current patients, including the transfer or appropriate management of all patient records. You must follow the law governing health records in your jurisdiction.
Steps for closing a practice
Some key steps include:
- notify and seek specific advice from your MDO
- publish a notice of practice changes in a local newspaper or other media
- determine a schedule for transferring, storing and/or disposing of health records that is compliant with legislative requirements in the relevant jurisdiction
- allow sufficient time for the closure of the practice and the transfer or discharge of patient care
- notify external organisations of practice changes
- notify employees of the intention to sell/retire/transfer
- dispose of prescription pads/paper and medications, including samples, responsibly.
Resources
- Initial decisions to consider
- Transferring or discharging patients
- People and organisations to notify
- Management of patient records on closure
- Selling or transferring a practice
- Closing due to professional misconduct
- Closing a practice on behalf of a psychiatrist (for legal representatives)
Checklists
- Closing a private psychiatric practice [MS Word; 25 KB]
- Personal action plan for transferring/discharging patients [MS Word; 18 KB]
Templates
- Practice staff and service provider contact list [MS Word; 20 KB]
- Professional/clinical associations contact list [MS Word; 19 KB]
- Record of patients’ health disposition [MS Word; 18 KB]
Information sheets
About this information
For enquiries about this information, contact policy@ranzcp.org.
Disclaimer: This information is intended to provide general guide to practitioners and should not be relied on as a substitute for proper assessment with respect to the merits of each case and the needs of the patient. The RANZCP endeavours to ensure that information is accurate and current at the time of preparation but takes no responsibility for matters arising from changed circumstances or information or material that may have become subsequently available.
