Medical students criticise plans for third med school in 2016

The Western Australian Medical Students’ Society (WAMSS) and the Medical Students’ Association of Notre Dame (MSAND) have expressed serious concerns over plans by Curtin University to open a third medical school in WA in 2016.

“We are extremely concerned that plans for a new medical school in WA continue to be advanced by Curtin University with the support of a myopic State Government that has failed to find or fund sufficient internships for students who are already in the system” said WAMSS President Mr Sebastian Leathersich.

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Enhanced Medicare support for GPs key to containing health costs

Government efforts to control spiralling health costs must focus on enhancing the role of GPs within the health system, according to Federal AMA President Dr Steve Hambleton.

Dr Hambleton said primary health care costs were growing much more slowly than those in other parts of the health system, and improving support for GPs in providing care for complex and chronic diseases would ultimately save the nation billions of dollars that would otherwise be consumed in expensive hospital care.

“GPs are the foundation of primary care, and they save the health system money,” the AMA President said, citing data showing spending on medical services grew by 4 per cent in the decade to 2011-12, well below the annual 6 per cent increase PBS spending and the 9.3 per cent annual jump in the cost of pharmacy products.

Dr Hambleton said that in the 10 years to 2012-13, Medicare benefits paid per service grew by just 4.7 per cent a year, compared with overall health spending growth of 5.4 per cent a year.

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Update on individual contracts in Queensland

Last week, the Department of Health released their contracts onto their website.

To be absolutely clear, AMA Queensland and the Federal AMA are steadfastly opposed to these contracts in their current form.

AMA Queensland and the Federal AMA maintain that the contract framework is unfair, unbalanced and disadvantages all SMOs, as confirmed by legal advice. The proposed contracts will discourage doctors from working in the Queensland health system, and this would hurt our patients by further limiting their access to high quality medical services.

Both the Federal AMA and AMA Queensland are urging the State Government to rethink its position and reopen negotiations with AMA Queensland.  AMA (Q) will continue pushing for this outcome and will continue to publicly highlight the unfairness of the current contracts and the damage they will cause our health system.

To view more on this update, including recommendations for healthcare practitioners thinking of working in Queensland, please click here.

Constitutional Reform

An important reform proposed for the governance of the AMA will be put to members for their vote at the Annual General Meeting in May.

The current constitution of Australian Medical Association Limited has served the AMA reasonably well for many years with occasional updates and amendments to meet changing needs. However, in the past few years, the governance arrangements for the AMA have weighed heavily with their inflexibility and over-sized governance board.

Federal Council has 34 members who represent AMA members through State and Territory AMAs, specialty groups, and special interest groups. The Council provides a good representational base for the formulation of, and debate on, policies that affect the great diversity of the membership. It is less appropriate for the corporate governance of the company, Australian Medical Association Limited. The members of Federal Council are constrained by having to act in the best interests of the company, rather than having the freedom to represent an interest group.
For some time, Federal Council has been considering the optimal arrangements to build a more agile and sustainable organisation for the future.

At its meeting in November 2013, Federal Council agreed unanimously to proceed with a new corporate structure and to unanimously recommend to members that they adopt the proposed structure.

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Need to get away? Great Locum doctor available

AMA Recruit has a GP Locum available to cover June/July 2014.

 
This female Vocationally Registered GP is subject to 19AB and therefore can only work in a DWS area.

If you would like to take a break and need a locum GP to cover your absence - contact Margaret Templeton at AMA Recruit,  or phone 9273 3033 for more information.

AMA (WA) Medical Products Summer Promotion extension

Due to popular demand, the AMA (WA) Medical Products Summer promotion has been extended to 28 February. 

Get together with a colleague to take advantage of our ‘buy one, get one free' offer on the EDAN H100B Handheld Pulse Oximeter or the EDAN Basic-A Handheld Fetal Doppler.

Other great offers include 25 per cent off various instruments and the EDAN SE1010 PC Based ECG at less than half price!

Click here to see the Summer Promotion.

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