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President's message
I am honoured to have assumed the role of President of the Medical Council of NSW.
I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to outgoing President, Dr Jennifer Kendrick AM, for her exceptional leadership in driving the Council’s efforts to streamline its processes and improve the timeliness of its decisions. I would also like to thank retiring Council members Dr Brian Morton AM and A/ Prof Ross Kerridge for their contributions and hard work.
As president, I am committed to ensuring the Council continues to meet its responsibility to protect the public by ensuring our responses to concerns about individual practitioners are appropriate, fair, timely and effective.
One of the ways the Council supports doctors to reduce their risk of complaint is by sharing information and resources that support patient safety and professional standards.
In this edition of the newsletter, you will find two items which aim to do just that.
Our latest podcast explores ways in which doctors and pharmacists can communicate more effectively to improve patient outcomes when it comes medications.
As a busy surgeon, I know it can be challenging at times to prioritise our own health care. I encourage you to read DIY medicine – the perils of self-prescribing which lays out the ethical professional, health risks of doctors self-prescribing. It’s a timely reminder we should all have own doctor to ensure we are receiving quality independent professional care to support our well-being.
Dr Liz Tompsett
President
Medical Council of NSW
DIY medicine – the perils of self-prescribing
When you’re very busy or feeling overwhelmed, it can be tempting to diagnose and treat yourself. However, DIY medicine and self-prescribing carries health, professional and legal risks.
In our latest podcast episode, we explore ways NSW doctors and pharmacists can work together to support safe prescribing and dispensing. Join host Dr Penelope Elix and guests Dr Mel Griffiths, GP and pharmacist Adrian Lee. They share useful tips for better communication and engaging with patients when it comes to medications.
Don’t miss out on our next episode - subscribe to Medical Council podcasts via your favourite platform.
Decoding death certificates
Death certificates are an important legal document, but questions sometimes arise around what to write. It’s important to include the right information, so we spoke to Dr Lené Burger from Forensic Pathology to get some more detail on this subject.
Council membership changes
Four new Council members took up their appointments this month. Welcome to Dr Anju Aggarwal, Dr Cameron Korb-Wells, Dr Michael Bonning and Kerrie Murphy.
You can see the full list of current members of the Medical Council of NSW and also read an interview with our new Council President Dr Liz Tompsett on our website. Who we are | Medical Council of New South Wales (mcnsw.org.au)
News bites
Ahpra - Greater protection for the public under National Law changes
From 1 July unregistered practitioners (including suspended practitioners) can be prevented from treating patients under a suite of new powers that enable the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) and National Boards to better protect the public.
The public will also have more information about health practitioners on the public register, including if they use an alternative name to practise.
RACGP - Flagship preventive health guidelines get first update in eight years
The 10th edition of the RACGP’s Guidelines for preventive activities in general practice includes the latest recommendations on evidence-based screening, prevention of chronic disease, early detection of disease, and empowering patients through health education and promotion.
Our next edition - doctor patient communication
Our next edition will focus on doctor patient communications. If you would like to tell us about an issue or share a concern you have around this subject, FEEDBACK please send us an email.
