Can a portable 10 mA RCD replace a body-protected area?

Not as a substitute for wiring the room. A body-protected area is a property of the installation: the 10 mA RCDs in the room, one circuit per room, the identified outlets, the earthing and the sign, tested every 12 months. A plug-in or in-line 10 mA RCD protects whatever is plugged into it and nothing else, has to be switched on every time, and protects nobody if staff bypass it.

New Zealand guidance gives portable RCDs a limited place. The RNZCGP and NZIHE describe three situations where mains-powered equipment may be used on a patient outside a body-protected area: an emergency, such as an ECG after a collapse; a planned low-risk treatment with the device on a 10 mA in-line RCD while the practice works through a transition plan to a proper area; and low-risk appliances assessed as such. Equipment whose label shows a BF or CF applied part may not need the 10 mA RCD at all. Each of those is a stop-gap or an exception, documented in the practice’s policy, not a design.

In Australia the question is settled by classification: if the room is a patient area, it is wired as one. If you are using in-line RCDs today, record it, plan the upgrade, and test the RCDs you have.