Ghosh v Health Care Complaints Commission

The appeal in *Ghosh v Health Care Complaints Commission* concerned a medical practitioner, Dr Ghosh, who sought to challenge decisions made by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) regarding complaints lodged against him by the Health Care Complaints Commission. The proceedings before NCAT were initiated under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law. The appeal was heard by Bell P, Payne JA, and Stevenson J of the Court of Appeal of New South Wales.

The central legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether NCAT had afforded Dr Ghosh procedural fairness, and whether the Tribunal had erred in its consideration of certain complaints and in providing adequate reasons for its conclusions. Specifically, the Court had to determine if NCAT’s decision to hear the complaint "on the papers" was consistent with the requirements of the National Law, which stipulated that a practitioner be given notice of the time and place of an inquiry and be entitled to attend it, notwithstanding any provisions within the *Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act*.

The Court of Appeal found that NCAT had failed to provide Dr Ghosh with procedural fairness. It held that the Tribunal’s decision to proceed with the hearing on the papers, without affording Dr Ghosh the opportunity to attend and present his case, was a breach of his right to procedural fairness as guaranteed by the National Law. Furthermore, the Court concluded that NCAT had erred in its assessment of some of the complaints and had not provided sufficient reasons for its findings. Consequently, the Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, set aside the impugned decisions of NCAT, and remitted the matter to NCAT for a rehearing by a differently constituted panel. The respondent was ordered to pay Dr Ghosh’s costs of the appeal and the original Tribunal proceedings.