AMA (WA) welcomes funding boost for medical research as a win for the state

Western Australia has taken a significant step towards a brighter and healthier future following the WA Parliament passing legislation that will provide substantial additional funds for medical research.

The WA Future Fund Amendment (Future Health Research and Innovation Fund) Act, passed by State Parliament yesterday, will finally supply substantial amounts of money into medical research in WA and follows many years of encouragement and lobbying by the Australian Medical Association (WA).

AMA (WA) President Dr Andrew Miller said the passage of the legislation provided the opportunity to change the perception of WA being predominantly a primary industries state.

To continue reading, please visit the AMA (WA) website. 

AMA (WA) 2020 Elections close Sunday 31 May

Nominations for AMA (WA) President, Vice President and Council positions are now open:

A. OFFICE BEARERS (elected by the General Membership):

• President
• Vice-Presidents (Two)

B. SPECIALTY GROUPS (elected by the Specialty Group membership)

• Anaesthetists
• General Practitioners
• Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
• Pathologists
• Psychiatrists
• Physicians
• Radiologists
• Surgeons
• Dermatologists
• Emergency Physicians
• Orthopaedic Surgeons
• Ophthalmologists
• Paediatricians

C. OTHER (3) (elected by the General Membership)

• Three Ordinary Members

Nominations must be received by 5pm on Sunday, 31 May 2020. For further information and to download the nomination form, please visit the AMA (WA) website.

Joint Media Release: Select Committee on E-cigarettes

The Australian Council on Smoking and Health, Cancer Council WA, and the AMA (WA) have advised the West Australian Government to ignore recommendations on e-cigarettes made by three out of five members of a Parliamentary Select Committee of the Legislative Council.

To continue reading, please visit the AMA (WA) website. 

Patients embrace Telehealth – COVID-19 reforms must be made permanent

Australian patients are overwhelmingly embracing telehealth as an important part of their health care management, making a very strong case for the government to make the COVID-19 telehealth reforms a permanent feature of our health system.

AMA President Dr Tony Bartone said that the AMA has been a strong telehealth advocate for many years and is delighted that patients are now reaping the benefits.

To continue reading, please visit the AMA (WA) website. 

AMA calls for Single Employer Model for all GP Registrars

The AMA has called for the implementation of the single employer model for all GP registrars as part of the transition of GP training to the Colleges in 2021.

In its submission to the Department of Health, the AMA was broadly supportive of the Draft Framework for College-led GP Training in 2021, but highlighted that long-standing issues in GP training will not and cannot be resolved by the outcomes and objectives outlined in the new Draft Framework alone.

To continue reading, please visit the AMA (WA) website. 

Drug and Alcohol Clinical Advisory Service

The Drug and Alcohol Clinical Advisory Service has been established  to provide advice on all issues relating to patient management of alcohol and other drug use. The service is available to all health professionals in WA and can be accessed via 6553 0520.

For further information, please visit the AMA (WA) website. 

PIP Teaching Payment has been temporarily amended for the duration of the COVID-19

The PIP Teaching Payment has been temporarily amended for the duration of the COVID-19 response period to assist practices to continue to perform the valuable work of training Australia’s future health workforce, while also ensuring the safety of patients, the practice and students. The amendments include:

• a temporary removal of the requirement for practices to obtain a student signature before lodging a PIP Teaching Payment claim (practices must instead maintain records of teaching and names of students for audit purposes
• practices may use remote arrangements (such as telephone and video-conferencing) to continue to provide training that involves medical students in patient care; and
• practices may opt to perform three one-hour sessions across different days to qualify for the three-hour session time requirement. However, practices must not make a claim until the full 3 hour session is completed, and the claim can be made by using the last date training took place. To avoid overpayment, practices must not record the individual dates that the training took place on the claim form. Practices must maintain records of each training session for audit purposes.

For further information, please visit the AMA website. 

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