AMA asks Alston to apologise over parliamentary attack on doctors
AMA President, Dr Kerryn Phelps, has today written to the Minister for Communications, Senator Richard Alston, seeking an apology for derogatory and misleading remarks about the AMA and doctors made under parliamentary privilege in the Senate last Wednesday.
Dr Phelps said Senator Alston, in trying to defend Tesltra's Priority Assistance Program for people with life threatening conditions, called the AMA 'a rapacious trade union' and wrongfully claimed that doctors' concerns were about seeking payment to participate in the Program.
"At no time was remuneration for doctors raised as an issue between the AMA and Telstra or with the Department of Health and Ageing," Dr Phelps said.
"The AMA does not support the Program because it is a joke.
"The Telstra proposal with respect to life threatening illnesses is fundamentally window dressing.
"It makes no sense from a clinical medical perspective, it attempts to shift the blame to doctors if Telstra fails to provide adequate maintenance services, and it gives Telstra an excuse if inadequate services are supplied to people not on the list.
"All this was explained and debated with Telstra back in April this year, but they have ploughed ahead with the scheme anyway.
"The AMA believes Senator Alston has deliberately misled Parliament and the Australian people in order to have a cheap shot at the AMA and doctors in defence of a flawed policy. If Senator Alston wants to privatise Telstra, that's his business. But if he wants to recruit doctors and patients to do Telstra's work, that's my business.
"The whole thing is designed to make the sale of the rest of Telstra more palatable to the general public.
"May I suggest the Minister look at recruiting a few more Telstra technicians in regional Australia, rather than denigrate doctors to deflect attention from the real issue," Dr Phelps said.
CONTACT: John Flannery (02) 6270 5477 / (0419) 494 761
Sarah Crichton (02) 6270 5472 / (0419) 440 076
The following attachments are available from Public Affairs.
Attached: Extract from Hansard, Wednesday 18 September 2002
Letter to Minister for Communications, Senator Richard Alston, 23/9/02
Letter from Dept of Health to the AMA, 28 March 2002
Letter from AMA to Dept of Health, 8 April 2002