Australian Medical Association

The AMA has made a submission to the Australian and New Zealand Podiatry Accreditation Council in response to the consultation paper on accreditation standards for education and training for podiatric surgery. The AMA’s view is that standards for training and education programs for podiatric surgeons as well as the providers of those programs must be equal to standards for the medical profession, and should therefore be accredited by the Australian Medical Council.

The Australian Medical Council (AMC) is developing a national code of professional conduct for doctors entitled Good Medical Practice: A Code of Conduct for Doctors in Australia (previously entitled Good Medical Practice: A Draft Code of Professional Conduct). The Code is intended to supersede existing State and Territory medical board professional conduct codes. The AMC intends to recommend that it be adopted by the new national medical board. The AMC's Final Consultation Draft of April 2009 reflects the feedback they received in response to the previous public consultation draft of August 2008.

The AMA's submission is attached.

Whilst the AMA considers the Final Consultation Draft to be a major improvement on the earlier version, the AMA has highlighted a few sections that require further amendment, including the sections on conscientious objection and on conflicts of interest. The AMA has also emphasised the need for the release of the Code to be accompanied by relevant public and profession based education campaigns and to be subject to a regular 3-5 year review cycle.

The NHWT has released a discussion paper on options for managing clinical placements, managing funding arrangements for clinical training, and the role of the national health workforce agency that was announced by the Council of Australian Governments in November 2008.

The AMA’s submission to the NHWT is attached.

AMA Joint Submission on Good Medical Practice: A Draft Code of Professional Conduct (August 2008)

The Australian Medical Council (AMC) is developing a national code of professional conduct for doctors entitled Good Medical Practice: A Code of Conduct for Doctors in Australia (previously entitled Good Medical Practice: A Draft Code of Professional Conduct). The Code is intended to supersede existing State and Territory medical board professional conduct codes. The AMC intends to recommend that it be adopted by the new national medical board.

The AMA has provided submissions on the AMC's public consultation drafts of the code. The AMA firmly believes that our regulatory system, including codes of professional conduct, must reflect the values and standards of the profession and supports doctor in fulfilling their duties to patients. Throughout the development of the Code, the AMA has strongly advocated that a code of conduct should:

• guide doctors in their relationships with patients and in their roles as patient advocates; 
• support doctors’ professional judgment and clinical independence; 
• respond to individual patient circumstances and diverse work settings; and 
• respect doctors and the wider medical profession.