Australian Medical Association

As a supporter of Food Allergy Awareness Week 2012, the AMA is urging enhanced public education programs to raise community awareness of potential food allergies and help people identify food products that may pose a risk to their health and the health of others.

Food Allergy Awareness Week, an initiative of Anaphylaxis Australia, promotes and develops the awareness of food allergy among Australians through education, research and ongoing support.

The AMA welcomes advice that the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) last week commenced an official audit of the Government’s troubled GP Super Clinics Program.

The ANAO will assess the effectiveness of the Department of Health and Ageing's (DoHA) administration of the GP Super Clinics Program, which was intended to support improved community access to integrated GP and primary health care services.

THE AMA is firmly engaged in the health reform process, and most AMA members are enthusiastic about the vision for shared electronic health records. They know that, with the right system, they can improve the patient healthcare experience. But as things stand with the Government's personally controlled electronic health records scheme, GPs are being asked to provide a new service for free. Doctors need greater support than what is on offer if the PCEHR is going to truly work.

AMA President, Dr Steve Hambleton, said today that last night’s Budget cuts to Practice Incentive Payments (PIP) to GPs will have a double negative impact on the health system by penalising GPs for not meeting new higher targets for cervical cancer screening and specialised diabetes care and removing incentives for immunisation.

Dr Hambleton said these measures, along with changes to the e-health PIP, have the potential to pose serious public health risks and undermine successful preventive health programs that are providing health benefits to many Australians.

AMA President Dr Steven Hambleton said tonight that the government had done the right thing by sparing health from broad funding cuts to provide a budget for tough economic times and to fund a budget surplus.

“Health has generally been sheltered from the budget cuts,” Dr Hambleton said.

AMA NATIONAL CONFERENCE 25 MAY – 27 MAY 2012
GRAND HYATT HOTEL, MELBOURNE

The AMA National Conference 2012 – celebrating the 50^th Anniversary of the Federal AMA – will be held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Melbourne, from 25-27 May.

The AMA welcomes the Prime Minister’s announcement that the first stage of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) will commence from July next year.

AMA President, Dr Steve Hambleton, said today that the AMA has been pushing for a national long-term care scheme for the severely disabled since 2003.

The AMA has warned patient access to medical care could become increasingly difficult unless urgent action is taken to address a looming shortfall of training places for medical graduates.

The AMA says a report released by the nation’s Health Ministers today shows there is a desperate need for Governments to fund extra pre-vocational and specialist training places in order to keep pace with the number of graduates emerging from medical schools.

The AMA congratulates the Government on its Living Longer Living Better plan to support older Australians, in particular the measures to assist them to live in their homes for longer, but is disappointed that the issue of access to quality medical care has not been properly addressed.

AMA President, Dr Steve Hambleton, said that the plan is a strong response to a policy area that has been long neglected, but the Government should have gone the extra step of giving older Australians the comfort of knowing they could get access to their doctors at a time of life when they most need them.

AMA President, Dr Steve Hambleton, has written to Health Minister, Tanya Plibersek, urging the Government to fund extra specialised support and supervision for international medical graduate (IMG) doctors, especially those working in rural and regional Australia.

The AMA recommends that new funding should be allocated to General Practice Education and Training (GPET), an organisation with the capacity and infrastructure to provide this additional support for IMG doctors working in general practice.

In a submission to the Medical Board of Australia (MBA), the AMA is calling on the Board to fund better access to doctors' health services across the country.

AMA President, Dr Steve Hambleton, said today that the AMA’s submission to the MBA highlights the evidence that doctors are at greater risk of mental illness and stress-related problems and are more susceptible to substance abuse than the general population.

The AMA today released the AMA Position Statement on Regional/Rural Workforce Initiatives 2012, which sets out a practical achievable plan to attract doctors and medical students to live and work in rural and regional Australia.

AMA President, Dr Steve Hambleton, said that the AMA has for some time identified medical workforce shortage as a major health issue, particularly in regional and rural Australia.

AMA President Dr Steve Hambleton comments on the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record. He says that the Government has made it clear that they have not allocated any funding in the Medicare schedule to cover this new clinical service.

The AMA has updated and split the content of its Position Statement on Human Genetic Issues 1998. Revised 2000. Revised 2002. to produce the AMA Position Statement on Genetic Testing 2012 and the AMA Position Statement on Human Cloning 2012.

The AMA Position Statement on Genetic Testing 2012 is more contemporary and reflects current issues relevant to genetic testing.

The AMA welcomes Health Minister Tanya Plibersek’s announcement that all training positions in the federally-funded Specialist Training Program have been fully subscribed.

This comes on top of February’s announcement that all 1000 first year GP training places had been filled.

AMA President, Dr Steve Hambleton, said today that, while most specialist training takes place in the public hospital system, the Commonwealth had progressively increased funding to support more specialist training in non-traditional settings, including private hospitals.

The AMA has introduced its own items for preparing and managing a shared health summary for the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR).

AMA President, Dr Steve Hambleton, said today that the Government had not created new items for doctors’ time and work with patients on the PCEHR and had not allocated any new funding in the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) to cover this new clinical service to be provided by doctors.

AMA Position Statement on Supervision and Assessment of Hospital Based Postgraduate Medical Trainees 2012

The AMA today released its Position Statement on Supervision and Assessment of Hospital Based Postgraduate Medical Trainees (2012).

AMA Vice President, Professor Geoffrey Dobb, said today that achieving high quality supervision and assessment of trainees must be a top priority for the Australian health system.

The AMA has produced a draft guide for doctors on how to use the personally controlled electronic health record (PCEHR), which is due to commence implementation from 1 July 2012.

The draft guide has been circulated for feedback from doctors and is available on the AMA website for professional and public comment prior to final publication.

The AMA is calling for a new Inquiry into the premature sexualisation of children in marketing and advertising.

AMA President, Dr Steve Hambleton, said today that self-regulation by the advertising industry is clearly not working.

In response to a growing trend to grant prescribing rights to more non-medical health professionals, the AMA has adopted a formal position rejecting all forms of non-medical practitioner prescribing, with the exception of dentists.

AMA President, Dr Steve Hambleton, said today that the Health Minister’s announcement about Medicare rebates for preparing shared health summaries for the personally controlled electronic health record (PCEHR) raises more questions than answers.

Dr Hambleton said it is still unclear whether Medicare rebates will be available for this new clinical service that GPs are being asked to provide for their patients.

In support of NPS Be Medicinewise Week 2012, the AMA is urging all Australians who are taking medicines, be they prescription or over the counter, to take the time to learn about their medications and to use them safely according to the prescription or the instructions.

AMA President, Dr Steve Hambleton, said today that people should carefully follow the medicines advice provided by their family GP and to always consult their GP with any doubts or questions about their medication.

The AMA welcomes the release of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Health and Ageing’s ‘Lost in the Labyrinth’ report into registration processes and support for international medical graduates (IMGs), also known as overseas trained doctors.

AMA President, Dr Steve Hambleton, said today that the AMA values the immense contribution that IMGs make to the Australian health system.

Dr Hambleton holds a doorstop at Parliament House to discuss medical certificates

In recognition of the National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence, the AMA today released two new practical tools to help raise awareness of child and adolescent bullying and its health effects and to provide sound advice about who people can turn to for help.

The Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth, The Hon Peter Garrett MP, and AMA President, Dr Steve Hambleton, launched the two new AMA brochures at Mascot Public School in Sydney this morning.

The AMA welcomes the decision of the Department of Human Services to introduce a Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) item enquiry email service to assist doctors with complex interpretations in the use of MBS item numbers.

AMA President, Dr Steve Hambleton, said today that the service is something that the AMA has been pursuing for some time.

The AMA this week brought together trainee doctors from across Australia for a Forum on training pathways for the future, with a strong emphasis on improving access to a well-trained medical workforce for all Australians, no matter where they live.

Forum delegates represented major medical trainee organisations across most specialties including general practice, surgery, medicine, emergency medicine, psychiatry, pathology, radiology, and obstetrics.

AMA President, Dr Steve Hambleton, said today that the passage of the National Health Amendment (Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement Initiatives) Bill through Parliament yesterday has the potential to seriously compromise patient care.

The Bill allows a practice known as ‘continued dispensing’, whereby pharmacists are allowed to dispense prescription medication without a valid prescription and without consulting a patient’s medical practitioner.

At a meeting in Canberra today, United General Practice Australia (UGPA) leaders unanimously expressed concern about the lack of preparation for the practical implementation at practice level of the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR), which is due to be introduced on 1 July this year.

UGPA members have been working tirelessly with the Government and agencies for some time to ensure the PCEHR becomes a reality.

The AMA welcomes Health Minister Tanya Plibersek’s announcement that all 1000 general practice training places for this year have been fully subscribed.

AMA President, Dr Steve Hambleton, said today that this is good news for patients as access to quality general practice care will continue to improve as more GPs graduate and start work in the community in coming years.