The Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal (HPDT) requests that the Medical Council share specific disciplinary findings relating to doctors. We believe that transparency is crucial for maintaining trust and ensuring the well-being of the public.

To keep you informed, a summary of recent HPDT decisions is accessible on the Medical Council's website. The summaries also provide direct links to access the full decisions on the HPDT website.

🔗 Stay updated on recent HPDT decisions here.

Dr Rairi Med22/547P

In a decision released August 2023, the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal censured and imposed conditions on Auckland General Practitioner Dr Poanere Rairi for prescribing addictive medicines to his employee, who was another doctor at the practice, in breach of the Council’s statement on Providing care to yourself and those close to you. This continued even after Dr Rairi was made aware of the employee’s pre-existing substance use disorder.

Dr Rairi was the sole GP at an Auckland medical centre. The practice was also staffed by contractors, including Dr A. Dr A also enrolled at the medical centre as a casual patient but continued to see their usual GP. Over a 17-month period, Dr Rairi prescribed various medicines to Dr A including tramadol, codeine, and benzodiazepines. During this time, the Medical Council’s Health Committee had notified Dr Rairi of Dr A’s substance use disorder and the conditions imposed on their practice requiring them to be supervised by a vocationally trained GP. Dr Rairi terminated Dr A’s employment shortly after as the practice could not comply with this condition. However, Dr Rairi continued to prescribe to Dr A after the notification from the Committee.

The Tribunal censured Dr Rairi and imposed conditions on his practice for a period of two years. The Tribunal also ordered Dr Rairi to pay a contribution of the PCC and Tribunal’s costs.

🔗 The full decision can be found here: Charge Details (hpdt.org.nz)

April edition