AMA President Dr Danielle McMullen provides members with an update of events from the past week.
Hello and Happy Friday! Welcome to my regular update on the happenings at Federal AMA the past week.
The National IV Fluid Response Group met again at the start of the week. The IV fluid shortages look likely to continue into next year at this stage, with the largest pressures currently being seen with 1L NaCl bags. The TGA, manufacturers and health services are working together to make things as smooth as possible for doctors and patients - so keep an ear to the ground for local advice. I'll also keep you updated whenever I heard more. In the meantime here's the latest factsheet on conservation strategies and safety measures .
I spent Tuesday in Sydney at a summit sharing ideas of how Australia could better streamline access to new medical devices and technologies. While quality and safety are of course paramount, Australian patients often wait too long for access to new technologies and our systems of funding are complex.
Our Council of Public Hospital Doctors (CPHD) met last weekend for a really engaging meeting. The pressures on our public hospitals will surprise none of you - you feel it every day on the wards, and our public hospital report cards (both the primary report and our mental health edition) show unprecedented demand and wait times. At CPHD we talked about workforce solutions, the impact of AI on public hospital healthcare and climate mitigation in public hospitals. We put the finishing touches on our position statement about violence in medical workplaces, and I look forward to being able to share this soon.
I'm looking forward to catching up with our Council of Doctors in Training and our Equity, Inclusion & Diversity committee over the next few days and I'll update you on this next week.
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, we are providing feedback to the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (NRAS) complexity review . We've lodged a submission this week highlighting our concerns, most especially on ensuring appropriate accreditation standards are prioritised to ensure patient safety, and raised the importance of having an appropriately funded workforce planning agency.
I've had a few media appearances this week including SBS on the government's exciting announcement of including RSV vaccination for pregnant women on the National Immunisation Program , along with increased vaccination of high-risk newborns. We've seen great results with the maternal pertussis immunisation program and I hope we see similar with RSV. I've also been in the medical press this week including the Medical Journal of Australia's Insight+ on the scope of practice review , and the Medical Republic covered our objections to the use of the title 'surgeon' in podiatry and dentistry.
I hope you all have a great week, and I look forward to updating you all this time next Friday.
