The president of the Australian Medical Association in Queensland has expressed serious concerns about new legislation to name and shame doctors and other medical staff in the media before an investigation is completed.

The government passed legislation allowing regulators to publicly name practitioners during an investigation, after a complaint has been made.

AMAQ president Dr Maria Boulton said she was unclear as to why the legislation had been brought in.

She said the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) can close down a practice or stop them from seeing patients.

“The issue with this law is that the changes that they have suggested is that health practitioners, so that could be a pharmacist, it could be a nurse, it could be a dentist or a doctor can be name and shamed in the media, before they undergo investigation,” she todl Sofie Formica.

“And we know that once it’s out there, it’s really difficult to retract.”

She said some vexatious complaints to APRA included one where a GP received a complaint after requesting a patient wear a mask in a clinic.

Press PLAY below to hear more of her concerns