AMA President Dr Danielle McMullen provides an update on the past week at Federal AMA.
What a whirlwind week it's been! Between media appearances, government meetings, and addressing critical healthcare issues, three days in clinic and moving house, it has sure been busy.
Earlier this week I met with Health Minister Mark Butler to discuss our priorities for the upcoming budget. It is clear that we need more than just stopgap measures in the upcoming budget - we need substantial, strategic investment in both public and private healthcare. Our healthcare system deserves funding that reflects the true cost of providing quality care, and I emphasised that this isn't about throwing money around - it's about smart, targeted investment and reforms that will make a real difference to both practitioners and patients.
I'm pleased to share that we've submitted our response to the TGA's consultation on reporting requirements for medicine shortages and discontinuations. We're all sick of what feels like endless shortages with limited information. While the TGA has done tremendous work managing these challenges, we need to move from reactive to proactive approaches, and with more whole-of-sector information sharing. We need prescribers and pharmacists to have useful clinical information about how to respond to a shortage. To achieve this, we've proposed establishing a dedicated medicines shortage forum - replacing the current ad-hoc approach with a regular meeting of key stakeholders from medicine, pharmacy, wholesalers, and sponsors. We've also suggested implementing a 'traffic light' system to better communicate phased supply shortages to practitioners. These changes would give us the best possible chance to respond to supply disruptions.
I've also been in the media this week to discuss new research about GLP1-RAs, showing interesting associations with reduced risk of not only cardiovascular illness but also lower rates of dementia, addiction disorders and psychosis. With the ongoing demand for semaglutide and other GLP1-RAs, it was a great opportunity to remind people that no medicine is without risk, that leading a healthy, active lifestyle remains important, and that talking to your usual doctor is a great place to start if you're worried about your health or weight.
Lastly, I want to address the awful situation in New South Wales, where we're seeing mass resignations of public sector psychiatrists. This has been an incredibly challenging week for our psychiatric colleagues, including registrars, and it's symptomatic of broader systemic issues. Our AMA NSW team is leading the response, and I fully support their calls for urgent action on critical staffing shortages throughout the NSW public hospital system and outdated industrial arrangements. The reality is stark - new hospital buildings are wonderful, but they're useless without skilled healthcare professionals to staff them.
Your AMA is fighting hard on all these fronts. Whether it's medicine supply chains, budget advocacy, or workforce conditions, we're making sure your voices are heard where it matters most.
As you can see, the pace rarely slows at Federal AMA but we wouldn't have it any other way. I look forward to sharing all your AMA does for you, the profession, and patients this time next week.
