AMA Submission to Queensland Parliament on Protection of the Title “Surgeon” Bill

The AMA supports the passage of this Bill and considers that it will assist patients in understanding which health practitioners have undertaken the necessary rigorous training to safely perform surgical procedures. We do however contend that the Bill could be improved by removing the ability of non-medically trained practitioners, such as podiatrists, from being able to use the title surgeon, which implies a level of training and supervised experience that is substantially beyond the requirements of a podiatric qualification. We also express concern about the Ministerial Council being able to open up access to using the title “surgeon” under proposed Clause 115A(5)(e) as being unnecessary and may potentially lead to lower standards – thus undermining the intent of this Bill.