Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal
Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal
The Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal (the Tribunal) hears and decides disciplinary charges brought against registered health practitioners. The charges may be brought by a professional conduct committee or the Director of Proceedings of the Health and Disability Commissioner’s office.
The Tribunal operates independently of the Dental Council.
For each disciplinary proceeding, the Tribunal comprises a Chair and Deputy Chair (barristers or solicitors) and four members from the panel maintained by the Ministry of Health. Three of those members must be from the same profession as the practitioner under investigation and one must be a layperson.
You can view a copy of the Tribunal guide to disciplinary proceedings.
Members of the panel for oral health practitioners
DentistsRobert East Mary Livingston Paopio Luteru Alexander Munro Warwick Ross Sergio Salis Natalie Stent Hugh Trengrove Justin Wall |
Dental hygienistsElsie-May Denne Susan Morriss Mary Mowbray Catherine Schillinger
|
Dental therapistsLinda Blackman Daniel Fernandez Lynette Nicholas
|
Oral health therapistsEugenie Boussenko Riona Haripershad Georgina Welsh
|
Dental techniciansJohn Batchelor John Egan Johanna Hearn Ludwig Jansen van Vuuren Michael Smith |
Lay membersTim Burns Leasa Carlyon Liz Jones Amanda Kinzett Jay Lee Brian McCulloch Dorothy McKinnon Stephanie Palmer Marie Taylor-Cyphers Tony Young |
Tribunal decisions
Hearings of the Tribunal are held in public unless it orders otherwise. All decisions and summaries are published on the Tribunal website.
Disciplinary decisions involving oral health practitioners, including any relevant court decisions, are available here.
The Tribunal may find that an oral health practitioner has:
- been guilty of professional misconduct because of an act or omission that amounted to malpractice or negligence in relation to the practitioner’s registered scope of practice when the conduct occurred
- been guilty of professional misconduct because of an act or omission that has brought or was likely to bring discredit to the dental profession
- been convicted of an offence that reflects adversely on the practitioner’s fitness to practise
- practised their profession while not holding a current practising certificate
- performed a health service without being permitted to perform that service by their scope of practice
- failed to observe any conditions included in their scope of practice
- breached a penalty order of the Tribunal.
Penalties
The Tribunal can impose a range of penalties including:
- cancelling a practitioner’s registration
- suspending a practitioner for up to three years
- imposing conditions on a practitioner’s practice for up to three years
- censuring the practitioner
- imposing a fine of up to $30,000
- requiring payment of part or all of the costs and expenses incurred by other parties.