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Public Health Act 1997
102ADoctors and nurse practitioners—failure to notify
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102A Doctors and nurse practitioners—failure to notify
(1) A doctor or nurse practitioner commits an offence if—
(a) the doctor or nurse practitioner has reasonable grounds to
believe that a patient has, or may have, a notifiable condition;
and
(b) the doctor or nurse practitioner fails to notify the chief health
officer, in accordance with the applicable code of practice, about
the patient’s notifiable condition as soon as practicable.
(2) A doctor commits an offence if—
(a) the doctor has reasonable grounds to believe that a dead person
had, or may have had, a notifiable condition at the time of death;
and
(b) the person was a patient of the doctor immediately before death,
or was examined by the doctor after death; and
(c) the doctor fails to notify the chief health officer, in accordance
with the applicable code of practice, about the person’s
notifiable condition as soon as practicable.
(3) An offence against this section is a strict liability offence.
(4) It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence against subsection (1)
or (2) if the doctor or nurse practitioner proves that they believed on
reasonable grounds that the chief health officer had already been told
about the notifiable condition of the patient or dead person.