AMA President Dr Danielle McMullen provides an update on the past week at the national AMA.
Hello, and happy Friday,
Before I get into the week that was at the AMA, let me acknowledge the issue some of you may have faced trying to access the AMA website at the beginning of the week. The issue is now resolved so please once again share our Modernise Medicare and Clear the Hospital Logjam campaigns widely! Thanks for your patience while our wonderful IT team sorted these issues out.
This week we've seen doctors in NSW participating in industrial action. This is a clear example of the pressures our doctors are under in public hospitals across the country - doctors being stretched in a system that's at breaking point. Public hospitals are our front line for our sickest patients, but are themselves in need of life support. Our clear the hospital logjam campaign is one of our primary campaigns this election - we need both levels of government to urgently pay their fair share for public hospitals, so that doctors are supported to deliver care without putting their own health on the line. In addition to this, we are calling for the reestablishment of an independent health workforce agency so that across our health system we are planning for, and training, enough doctors and other healthcare workers to properly staff our system. This of course will take time, but every day of delay is more time in an understaffed system.
For me it's been a busy week of meetings, meetings, and more meetings! I spent Monday with the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA), focusing on the ways GPs and pharmacists can work together collaboratively to enhance patient care. Of course, the AMA will never support autonomous pharmacy prescribing, but we recognise the value of partnerships with pharmacists to improve patient outcomes such as having pharmacists working in GP practices or enhancing programs such as home and aged care medicines reviews.
On Tuesday we met with the Australian Medical Council (AMC) and then Ahpra and the Medical Board of Australia (MBA). Both meetings had a strong focus on ensuring that medical standards and regulations prioritise practitioner well-being. These discussions highlighted the need for clear and effective frameworks that support healthcare professionals whenever they are engaged with the AMC, Ahpra or the MBA. We also discussed the AMC and its role in relation to international medical graduates (IMGs), and ways we can improve the experiences of IMGs in our healthcare system.
We also had meetings on Tuesday with member health organisations, the body representing smaller not-for-profit health funds like St Luke's, Doctors Health Fund and Phoenix, with a focus on the diversity among insurers and the importance of equitable healthcare coverage. We reiterated that the private health sector needs more oversight to deliver better value for patients and a more certain and streamlined work environment for doctors - we think this should be through the establishment of a private health system authority.
You would likely have heard this week of Labor's election pledge of $1 billion for mental healthcare. The Coalition has also recently pledged significant funding to support additional Medicare funded psychologist visits, additional early psychosis centres and to boost the capacity of Headspace. While more funding is welcome, we are again frustrated by the lack of necessary supports of GPs and psychiatrists providing care. As the primary providers of mental health care for most Australians, GPs require additional resources, including collaboration with psychiatrists, to strengthen the mental health system. We will continue to advocate to both sides of politics that further fragmentation of care won't help - we need to resource our existing practices and clinicians to provide the care we know they can.
As we head into Easter next week, I'll give you a break from my musings (unless of course there is any breaking news!). I wish you and your loved ones a safe and happy Easter - for those of you travelling, stay safe. And for those of you working across the holidays, thank you!! We'll of course also be working - no rest in election season!
