Did Premier Mark McGowan follow the best medical advice last week by reducing restrictions?

If you are a logical person with common sense, then no.

If you are a fan of Yes Minister, then he absolutely followed the advice of Chief Health Officer (CHO) Dr Andy Robertson to the letter.

The AMA (WA) wishes to thank all doctors who completed our recent survey, Imminent Changes to HBF health insurance. The survey results have been used to support AMA (WA) advocacy, which has resulted in HBF reviewing and actively addressing the unintended consequences of changes to patient rebates, and the closure of its Limited Surgical Items List, scheduled to be implemented in mid-2022. 

More than 470 doctors responded to the AMA (WA) survey. Of them 68 per cent thought there would be a negative impact for private practice as a result of the proposed changes and 77 per cent believed that the changes would negatively impact patients. HBF has welcomed the engagement with the AMA (WA), and is working to address the issues and concerns we have raised.

There are a number of existing concerns the AMA (WA) has in relation to changes to the ‘known gap’ scheme, and we will continue to strongly oppose any change which seeks to dismantle systems that provide value for doctors, hospitals and most importantly, patients. We will continue to work collaboratively with HBF to support the positive development of services and schemes that deliver safe and effective patient care, and a thriving private health system in WA.

Look out for more information on the survey results in the upcoming edition of Medicus.

With the first quarter of 2022 already over (how did that happen?), now is a good time to hone in on your Continuing Professional Development in order to meet requirements.
 
There’s a new CPD registration standard, which requires you to complete 50 hours of CPD per year. You will also need to have a CPD home, and a personal professional development plan.

The WA Department of Health End of Life Care (EOLC) Program invites you to have your say on two draft guides to Advance Care Planning (ACP).

Click here to complete the online survey.The survey takes approximately 20 minutes to complete, and is open until Wednesday 13 April 2022.

If you have any queries, or you would like to have input but are unable to complete the survey, please contact the Advance Care Planning Team within the EOLC Program via email at acp@health.wa.gov.au or phone 9222 2300. 

Populations who are at greatest risk of severe illness from COVID-19 and who have received their primary vaccination and first booster dose are recommended to have an additional booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine. These groups are:

• Adults aged 65 years and older;
• Residents of aged care or disability care facilities;
• People aged 16 years and older with severe immunocompromise (as defined in the  ATAGI statement on the use of a third primary dose of COVID-19 vaccine in individuals who are severely immunocompromised);
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 50 years and older.

With advocacy required on a broad range of pressing issues, the Council is a vital forum to represent the views of our practice groups, and the medical profession as a whole.

If you are a financial member, take the opportunity to nominate for election to the AMA (WA) Council. It’s your chance to be the change you want to see, rather than seeing the changes you think you might have handled differently if you’d been involved. After all, the AMA (WA) is only as strong as its representation.

Take the lead and fill out a nomination form today. Click here for the Office Bearers and Council form, and here for the Practice Group form. Nominations close on Tuesday 19 April at 5pm.

In what's been a headline-grabbing issue this week, ambulance ramping rates in WA continue on an upward trajectory. Hardly a new occurrence, as this edition of Flashback Friday from April 2015 reminds us.

Back then, WA Parliament encountered its very own ‘Yes Minister’ moment (we’re fans of the show as you can tell) when former Health Minister Dr Kim Hames declared that he had banned ramping. Of course, the media went mental, and the AMA hit back hard on behalf of all those healthcare workers in emergency care who were scratching their heads in utter disbelief. Medicus’ response was via a tongue-in-cheek article by then editor Robert Reid, which we think deserves another outing.

Purchasing Life Insurance, Income Protection and Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) insurance through super may be tax effective, and also provide you with peace of mind.

This year’s Federal Budget covers a range of measures aiming to reduce the pressure from increased costs of living, and help people into homes. You can read the full article below or watch the video.

This webinar covers a range of topics including choosing General Practice as a career, information on being a metropolitan-based GP, rural-based GP and rural generalist.  You will also hear from GPs about their personal journeys, be provided with some useful resources and further information.

Nominations for the annual AMA (WA) Awards are now open, specifically the Hippocrates Award and the Junior Doctor of the Year Award (Dr Camille Michener Legacy Award).

This is your chance to make sure the outstanding work of your colleagues is recognised and celebrated. Please spread the word, and encourage others to nominate.

This year, the awards will be presented at MEDBALL22 during MEDCON22.

Submit your nominations below.

Medical.com.au is Australia’s leading platform for hospitals and day surgeries around the country to list their surplus and superseded medical equipment for sale.

At medical.com.au, you can purchase items directly from hospitals and surgeries from the comfort of your office or home, ranging from examination couches right through to highly specialised theatre equipment.

As a member you will also have access to medicalequipment.com.au and medicalsupplies.com.au where you can buy a wide range of quality, new medical equipment, and medical supplies direct from manufacturers and distributors.

AMA Medical Products has partnered with medical.com.au and the range of products are now available from their store in addition to amamedicalproducts.com.au.