President and CEO Update February 2022
For the past two years, our conversations have ended with “stay safe”. With the extreme weather events of late February and early March, we have added “stay dry” to our farewells. Flooding across South East Queensland has cost lives, devastated livelihoods, destroyed homes and possessions, and put added pressures on our health care system, just at a time when we were hoping for some relief from COVID-19. This month has also seen the start of our advocacy against the North Queensland pharmacy trial and we hope you will add your voice to the campaign.
FLOODS
The natural disaster that hit so much of the south-east corner of our state will have ongoing consequences for months to come. While most practices have off-site back up and disaster management plans, natural disasters have implications for doctors, their businesses, patients and staff.
Our Workplace Relations Team has put together an overview of issues you may encounter following the floods, including workers' compensation coverage, patient records, temporary closures, leave entitlements and counselling. AMA Queensland members can contact our Workplace Relations Team on (07) 3872 2222 or email workplacerelations@amaq.com.au.
Members all around the state will have gone through similar experiences in floods in recent years – in Townsville, Mackay, the channel country, and many other areas. We encourage you to share your wisdom with colleagues who may be facing their first flood event.
Many of our GP members are running wound clinics for people who injure themselves during the clean-up. It’s important at this time that we ensure people know the dangers of flood water and the muddy residue left behind, and that they should wear long sleeves, long trousers and boots where possible, and wash and treat any scrapes or cuts as soon as possible to avoid infection
Read more SEQ floods - practice assistance.
#StopNQPharmacyTrial
The North Queensland pharmacy trial continues to attract more scrutiny around the issues of patient safety and conflict of interest. All GP representatives left the steering committee when the full scope of the proposed trial became clear.
The North Queensland Primary Health Network has also left the committee following a conflict of interest with their representative – a pharmacist and member of the Pharmacy Guild.
The Guild continues to paint our objections to this proposal as a “turf war”. Their arguments do not mention patient safety or the potential for missed diagnoses.
We continue to call on the Queensland Government to release the evaluation results of the urinary tract infection (UTI) prescribing trial that this North Queensland pilot is based on. We have seen no outcomes other than the number of prescriptions written. We do not know if basic urinalysis was done before prescribing antibiotics. We do not know how many women got their promised follow-up call, and whether any of those women sought further treatment elsewhere.
Read our media statement, Release UTI trial evaluation
There is still doubt about when the North Queensland pilot will start, with dates of June this year and January next year floated.
We have the support of many pharmacist colleagues in this fight. Like us, they value the need for all medical and health professionals to practise within their scope.
Encouraging pharmacists to become de facto GPs and diagnose and treat a range of potentially serious health conditions – including prescribing and dispensing a range of medicines despite a lack of training – is a risk to public health. GPs have on average 14 years of training. Pharmacists have four. Pharmacists do a great job and we rely on them every day, but they are not trained to diagnose and treat complex conditions.
Please join the campaign and write to your local Member of Parliament (MP) to voice your concerns about this trial and arrange a meeting so you can personally explain the dangers of this pilot.
Read our campaign web page to understand the issues, see our advocacy in action and refer to a guide to help you engage your MP.
Make sure to also join the conversation on social media, tag us and use the hashtags #StopNQPharmacyTrial #PatientsOverPolictics.
COVID-19
The floods may have washed COVID-19 out of the headlines, but outbreaks are still occurring and the further removal of public health protections will likely lead to more cases.
AMA Queensland has sought and been given confirmation from Queensland Health that masks will still be required in GP clinics despite the mandate lifting for most other areas. We have also worked with the Queensland GP Alliance and Queensland Health to create a process to support GPs to access emergency supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE).
Whenever possible, GPs should obtain PPE through their own suppliers, but when this is not viable, they should contact their local Primary Health Network (PHN). In circumstances where the PHN cannot supply PPE, GPs can obtain emergency access through their local Hospital and Health Service. In an urgent situation where supplies of critical PPE are unable to be sourced, GPs should contact their PHN to liaise on their behalf with the Australian Department of Health.
Read our full PPE guide for GPs here.
In other COVID news, we were concerned by the results of random testing on the Gold Coast in January - at the height of the Omicron wave - that showed one in six people may have been infectious in the community and one in five of those people had symptoms but did not get tested. We will continue to encourage the public to be vigilant and help contain the spread of COVID-19.
MENTAL HEALTH FUNDING
AMA Queensland gave evidence last month to the Queensland parliamentary inquiry into mental health services. We called for investment of at least $700 million a year, including into services for new parents and their babies to cope with COVID-related restrictions and cutbacks.
AMA Queensland Vice President Dr Bav Manoharan told the inquiry that while there is an overlap between mental health and addiction, they are distinct medical specialties. The only way we can start a training pipeline is to invest in it and to establish training pathways for GPs, particularly in regional and remote services. We already have vacant psychiatry registrar positions in inner-city Brisbane, demonstrating the level of difficulty in attracting psychiatrists to work in regional areas.
Queensland spends the lowest of any state or territory on mental health. During COVID, we have seen a 28 per cent increase in presentations to emergency departments for mental health services and a 50 per cent increase in presentations to GPs for patients seeking help for mental health conditions.
Our members are also seeing an increase in mental health presentations from new parents. Many new mothers are reporting being discharged from hospital soon after giving birth, sometimes before they have learnt how to breastfeed and settle their baby.
COVID restrictions mean they have also not been able to be part of baby groups or Community Child Health supports.
AMA Queensland calls on Queensland Health to increase the level of support for perinatal mental health by reintroducing Community Child Health sessions and increasing the number of mother-baby-inpatient units across the state.”
You can read Prof Perry and Dr Manoharan’s evidence to the committee here.
Read our media statement, Mental health needs better funding
PUBLIC HOSPITAL FUNDING
Our federal colleagues have launched a campaign to make public hospital funding a vote-changer during the upcoming federal election.
The Clear the hospital logjam campaign is aimed at fixing bed block, ambulance ramping and emergency department (ED) delays. Doctors and patients are encouraged to share their stories and experiences with the public hospital system, including delays to elective surgery, long waits for specialist appointments, and ED delays.
The aim is to get a commitment from all federal candidates to reform the public hospital funding model with a funding agreement between all government to fix the structural issues that prevent our hospitals from operating effectively and sustainably.
We also need better Medicare funding to help GPs to continue to provide strong primary health care and keep people out of hospitals. Medicare rebates have not kept pace with inflation or the cost of providing health care for more than three decades.
Our Ramping Roundtable has come up with a five-point action plan to fix ED ramping and ease the pressure on our exhausted health care workforce. We presented our plan to government last year – it is time they started to act on it.
Read the AMA Queensland media statement Clear the hospital logjam.
Visit the new campaign website to share your story or email hospitals@ama.com.au.
ASMOFQ MOCA 6 UPDATE
ASMOFQ attended the first MOCA 6 meeting on Monday 21 February and discussed logistical matters for the bargaining process, as well as issues relevant to:
• junior medical officers/doctors in training
• senior medical officers
• visiting medical officers
• MSPPs and MOPPs
• rural and remote doctors.
Members can review the current Log of Claims and read the latest MOCA 6 update here.
REMINDER UPDATE YOUR DETAILS
Nominations for AMA Queensland’s election will open on Monday 7 March and members need to ensure their details are up-to-date to ensure full voting rights.
FOUNDATION THANKED FOR CHRISTMAS DONATION
As board members of the AMA Queensland Foundation, we were both thrilled to see this thank you video from Juiced TV, the recipient of our Christmas appeal. Thanks to everyone who donated and helped us raise $25,000. Please enjoy this heart-warming video featuring Foundation Chair Dr Dilip Dhupelia. Keep an eye out for our next appeal to be announced soon.
2022 EVENTS CALENDAR
Our 2022 events calendar is taking shape. Take a look at our exciting program including the Junior Doctor Conference in Cairns and the Gold Coast, Dinner for the Profession 29 July, and our Medical Careers Expo coming up soon on 26 March, a must attend event for any doctor looking for new opportunities. At the expo you can network with your peers over drinks and nibbles while meeting a selection of colleges, hospitals and private operators from across the state.
Read our 2022 events calendar.
We do hope everyone stays well and dry in March.