Health Services Boards will make positive difference: AMA (WA)

The Health Services Boards established to oversee WA health will be an important part in seeking ways to fix our health system, currently under severe strain, the Australian Medical Association (WA) said.

“The five boards recently established by the WA Government are an investment in expertise and will provide much-needed leadership and accountability in a tough time for public health services,” AMA (WA) President Dr Andrew Miller said.

“We hope the new Boards will take on the task of improving the major cultural and efficiency issues that currently exist in the WA health system. How can we have spent so much money and still lag far behind other states in some important measures of patient care?”

“The Boards however are a positive move and the costs involved in their establishment and running will soon be found in efficiencies and initiatives they will recommend.”

“It is appropriate that some of the best and brightest medical minds in the State have been appointed to the boards, rather than people with no experience in medicine or patient care. They will be recommending and overseeing actions to make positive changes to our health system," Dr Miller said.

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AMA demands fair go for GPs with pathology collection arrangements

Federal AMA President Dr Michael Gannon has made a direct plea to Health Minister Sussan Ley to scrap Government plans to change rental rules for pathology collection centres located in general practices and other medical facilities.

The Government announced a sudden and unexpected deal with Pathology Australia during this year’s Federal election campaign to impose tighter rules on collection centre rental arrangements in exchange for the pathology companies dropping their high profile campaign against the Government’s Medicare bulk billing policies.

Dr Gannon said that the AMA is demanding the Government immediately drop its deal with Pathology Australia.

“The Government wants to implement a blunt cap on the rents paid by pathology companies for pathology collection centre space in general practices and other medical suites,” Dr Gannon said.

“This policy was reached without any proper consultation with general practice groups or other providers of collection centres outside the major pathology companies.

“It was also reached without acknowledgement of previous consultations and what stakeholders thought was a clear plan to address any inappropriate rental arrangements," Dr Gannon said. 

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AMA (WA) 2016 Annual Charity Golf Day

The AMA (WA) invites you to participate in the AMA Foundation Charity Golf Day on Friday 4 November 2016 at the Royal Perth Golf Club.

We look forward to welcoming you to this annual event to share an enjoyable day with your colleagues, business partners and clients. There will be some amazing items up for auction, and as usual, proceeds will go to AMA (WA)’s Dr YES program.

The Ambrose tournament will allow for players of varying degrees of golfing prowess to get involved, and will be just as much fun for the novice golfer as the more experienced players in your team.

Registrations are now open – simply complete the Acceptance Form and send to Skye Connor at AMA (WA) via fax (9273 3073) or email.

Last year’s event was fully booked, so be sure to sign up early to secure your place!

For more information or to register, please click here. 

National terms and conditions for the employment of GP Registrars in 2017

The AMA is pleased to advise that General Practice Registrars Australia (GPRA) and General Practice Supervisors Australia (GPSA) have reached agreement on the National Terms and Conditions for the Employment of Registrars (NTCER) commencing in 2017 - three months earlier than the previous agreement, and just in time for registrars and practices to negotiate their employment arrangements for 2017.

The new agreement continues to cover GP registrars undertaking Australian GP Training in all general practice terms of training, and has been brokered with the assistance of the AMA.

GPSA Chair, Dr Bruce Willett, said supervisor and training practice feedback received prior to negotiations heavily informed the GPSA negotiation team’s position and, given the existing Medicare freeze, rising costs and the freeze on training practice subsidies, no increase to the base rates, nor the percentages, has occurred at this negotiation.

The NTCER is a goodwill document that applies because of the agreements in place between the Australian Government and the Regional Training Organisations (RTOs), which require training practices to observe it.

The NTCER agreement reached for 2017-18 again requires that registrars be engaged as employees, and allows for percentage payments to be made on a billings or receipts basis not less than every three months.

For more information, please click here. 

The AMA Corporate Travel Policy: comprehensive cover for those unforeseen events

The AMA Corporate Travel policy has been tailored specifically to the needs of the Medical and Health Profession, with key features being:

• Worldwide cover provided for both business and leisure travel
• Cover includes accompanying spouse/de facto and dependent children when either travelling together with, or separately to directly join or leave, the Insured
• Joint Insured cover option for independent travel
• Ski / Snow Sports cover and Charter Flights cover options
• Up to 180 days covered per trip
• No exclusions for pregnancy (except Life Insurance)
• Cover for pre-existing medical conditions, subject to policy terms and conditions
• Evacuation cover
• Detention and Extortion cover included under Kidnap and Ransom
• Access to Dynamic Assist 24 hour, 365 day Emergency Service
• Policy renewable for the Insured up to 85 years of age

So to secure your peace of mind and optimum enjoyment when travelling, contact us on 1300 763 766 or email to get a quote today!

New Guidelines for General Practitioners to help them manage type 2 diabetes

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) in conjunction with Diabetes Australia have released the General practice management of type 2 diabetes 2016-2018 handbook.

The revised guidelines are designed to support General Practitioners and provide an accessible summary of best practice.

Focusing on factors that are relevant to current Australian clinical practice, the new guidelines have a focus on individual patient preferences and self-management.

The guidelines are free to download on the RACGP and Diabetes Australia websites. Copies of the guidelines will be distributed to RACGP members, endocrinologists and diabetes educators across Australia.

Hardcopies of the handbook can be obtained from Diabetes WA.

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