AMA President Dr Danielle McMullen provides an update on the past week at Federal AMA.
GP leaders from across the country met in Canberra last weekend for our Council of General Practice. We spent two days talking about the multitude of GP reviews being released, but also about designing the GP system of the future. We have a fantastic healthcare system but it's feeling the strain of decades of underinvestment. Shuffling the deck chairs won't fix it. Real improvements will take time, commitment, deliberate design and proper investment. Your AMA will be right there at the table for you.
For those who think the CDC has gone a bit quiet, we agree! Our members have told us for nearly a decade that Australia needs to keep pace with the world and have a high functioning CDC with coverage of infectious disease, pandemic preparedness and then to consider its role in our burgeoning problem of non-infectious disease. We have an interim CDC, and with the report into the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic due within weeks, now is the time to make sure the CDC remains a priority - so A/Prof Julian Rait and I met with their team to keep the pressure up.
On Monday night I held a webinar with PSR Director A/Prof Antonio Di Dio, a GP in Canberra with a strong interest in doctors' health. For those who missed it, it's definitely worth a watch, and a recording will be made available for members shortly. Antonio covered Medicare compliance and PSR investigation processes. He reiterated the importance of having support throughout the process, and some tips about how to ensure you never come before the PSR. The AMA continues to push to make sure PSR and other regulatory processes are just, fair, and take into account the significant burden on those under investigation.
One of the huge privileges of this job is getting a platform to share health information. One of my highlights this week was talking to the ABC's programme for school children, BTN, about nicotine pouches . I also got to speak to Indigenous media channel The Wire about the disproportionate impact our youth justice system has on the health of First Nations children.
And lastly, VP Julian Rait and I had our first official meeting with Health Minister Mark Butler this week. We made it clear that we expect to see actions and outcomes - we have spent the past year in a season of reviews, and it's now time to see where those will land. We want the budget and election to have a health focus, to deliver for our doctors and our patients. Whether it's in our GP or other specialty clinics, our public or private hospitals, in inner Melbourne, or rural QLD - we need healthcare funding and systems that support quality care.
