Dr Kerryn Phelps, AMA President - ABC Radio 'AM' program
REPORTER: The poisons information hotline, a lifesaver for many thousands of people over the years, is in crisis. A medical exodus has left just eight toxicologists to handle poisons emergencies for the entire country. The resignations bring to a head years of fustrations among medical staff about the failure of the States and Commonwealth government to agree on funding. Peter Lloyd reports.
LLOYD: It's the service that's saved thousands of lives. A telephone hotline that helps doctors deal with medical crises involving poisoning. Until July, twelve senior toxicologists were available 24 hours a day, seven day a week, to provide expert advice, but six doctors quit, citing what they say is a failure on the part of the Federal and State governments to reconcile where responsibility for improving the service lies. Two have now resumed work, but, even so, gaps appear to remain. According to one doctor quoted in the magazine, Australian Medicine , there have been a dozen cases since July where there was no toxicologist on duty. In one recent week, there was no expert advice for three successive days. The crisis has prompted the AMA's President Doctor, Kerryn Phelps, to warn that lives may be lost.
PHELPS: We're very worried about the potential for loss of life, if we do lose this poisons information service, because parents of small children particularly, and GPs around the country, rely on this service because you have a toxicologist on the end of the phone who can give you advice as to what to do in an emergency.
LLOYD: How did it come to this?
PHELPS: Well, there has been argument about who's responsible for funding the service for some time, with the Commonwealth and the States dumping responsibility off between each other. And the toxicologists have become so flustrated at this, that four of them have resigned. This leaves only eleven to run the whole service nationally, and these doctors are working voluntarily.
LLOYD: What sort of feedback have you been getting from the doctors about their frustrations over the years?
PHELPS: We've been trying to make the point that the service is not only underfunded for what it's doing now, but it needs extra funding so that it can conduct research in order to bring the service up to international standards, and to make sure that we can make some plans for the future. Now, they are sick of bashing their heads against a brick wall, and trying to get the funding and getting governments to actually take responsibility for this service and, in response to this, four of them have resigned.
LLOYD: Who do you believe should be paying for this?
PHELPS: It doesn't matter who pays for it, as long as it's properly funded, whether it's shared by the Commonwealth and the States, or whether the States or the Commonwealth take responsibility. This is a theme that has permeated the whole health system for far too long now, and it's become ridiculous.
LLOYD: Toxicologists confirm they first raised concern with the Federal Government back in 1997. Then, as now, the Commonwealth said it was a State responsibility, however the outcome of a review is expected before the end of the year.
Ends