NSW State Scope of Clinical Practice Unit

Model scopes: latest updates

Updates released 6 October 2023

We are pleased to advise that model scopes of clinical practice (MSoCP) for the following four specialties have been approved by the Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Health and are being made available for NSW Health organisations to implement. The final documents are available on our website at https://www.schn.health.nsw.gov.au/about/nsw-ssocp under the Medical & Surgical or Dental tabs and the relevant fields are being uploaded into the eCredential system’s NSW Health Model SoCP Library.

• Genetic Pathology
• Nuclear Medicine
• Oral Surgery
• Radiology

Local Health Districts and Specialty Networks (LHD/SN) are encouraged to transition existing appointees and new positions in these specialties to the NSW Health MSoCP in accordance with local procedures and timelines.

Amended Specialty MSoCPs

The following specialty MSoCPs have been reviewed with some minor updates to the standard format and a focus on changes to ‘specific’ items related to Molecular Genetics

• Anatomical Pathology
• Chemical Pathology
• General Pathology
• Haematology (Laboratory components)
• Immunopathology
• Microbiology

The MSoCP for Cardiothoracic Surgery has been reviewed with some minor updates to the standard format and amendment of the ‘specific’ Structural Heart items, with TAVI practitioner accreditation requirements added (as was already applied in the MSoCP for Cardiology).

The MSoCP for Pain Medicine has been reviewed with some minor updates to the standard format and changes to several ‘specific’ procedures aligned to the FPM Procedures Endorsement Program.

Practitioners in the above specialties will need to be considered for amendment of their scope of clinical practice. For these specialties, these changes will be applied to the existing scope of clinical practice for all practitioners appointed or in the workflow where their LHD/SN has already applied the NSW Health MSoCP in eCredential.

The final documents for each of these specialties are available on our website at https://www.schn.health.nsw.gov.au/about/nsw-state-scope-of-clinical-practice-unit/model-scopesof-clinical-practice-surgical-and-medical and the relevant changes are being uploaded into the eCredential system’s NSW Health Model SoCP Library.

Updates to standard format

All other specialty MSoCPs have been updated, almost all with just minor amendments to some of the basic details in the standard template (our new phone number, reference to specialist international medical graduates rather than overseas trained specialists, reference to age ranges rather than age limitations, amended descriptor for Procedural clinical duties, mirroring ‘Not Applicable’ options under Clinical Duties already in eCredential, and clarification of policy directive applicable to Emergency Practice section).

Several have also had hyperlinks to documents updated where Colleges or other host organisations have had changes to their websites.

The final documents for each of these specialties are available on our website at https://www.schn.health.nsw.gov.au/about/nsw-ssocp under the Medical & Surgical, Paediatric and Dental tabs and the relevant fields (Procedural Clinical Duties descriptor and some hyperlinks) are being uploaded into the eCredential system.

These changes are not considered to require review of existing scopes of clinical practice for practitioners where their LHD/SN has already applied the NSW Health MSoCP.

For all changes

Districts that are using model scopes but transposing them into LHD specific multi-facility templates and organisations external to NSW Health that have adopted or adapted these MSoCPcan apply for marked-up versions that clarify the exact changes made to the Amended Specialties and in relation to the Updates to Standard Format.

Should anything require clarification, or should you have queries on other matters, please feel free to contact us via nswh-ssocpu@health.nsw.gov.au