AMA highly critical of ‘let it rip’ policy

AMA President Dr Omar Khorshid has told the media healthcare workers feel let down by both state and Federal governments.

The AMA has been unequivocal in its criticism of government measures which have allowed the Omicron variant to spread unchecked in NSW and consequently into other states.

President Dr Omar Khorshid has been consistent in his message to the media - and on Twitter - over the last few weeks that the ‘let it rip’ to the Omicron COVID-19 variant approach in NSW has been devastating.

This week Dr Khorshid’s frustration was once again evident when he was interviewed by the ABC’s Ros Childs on the ABC TV News At Noon program.  

“I think many healthcare workers feel let down by both state and Federal governments in terms of trying to slow down this outbreak and protect the healthcare system,” Dr Khorshid said.

“What I find difficult to understand is how governments, and I'm talking state and Federal governments here, decided to let Omicron rip through our community without modelling the impact, without having the testing systems, the healthcare settings in place first because those were certainly predictable when you looked around the world and how Omicron and even Delta were devastating communities in Europe and in many other countries.

“The idea that we would simply sail through it without the need for any of these emergency measures that we're now putting in was simply fanciful. And I think that's where the great miss is here, that they simply let it rip without having put those preparations in place, and the key one clearly would have been better access to rapid antigen tests.”