New President outlines her vision
Dr Maria Boulton outlines her plans for AMA Queensland in her term as President.
Transcript: AMA Queensland President, Dr Maria Boulton, ABC Radio Brisbane, Breakfast with Craig Zonca and Loretta Ryan, Tuesday, 31 May 2022
Subjects: COVID-19, Flu season, AMA Queensland Presidency
LORETTA RYAN: Throughout the pandemic, Dr Maria Boulton has been one of the go-to doctors for COVID advice and interviews. We've certainly spoken to her a lot here. Well, expect to hear a lot more from her because Dr Boulton has taken over as the President of AMA Queensland, succeeding Dr Chris Perry. Hello, Dr Boulton.
MARIA BOULTON: Morning Loretta, morning Craig.
LORETTA RYAN: How are you? You run a busy practice. How will this change your day-to-day work, being the President?
MARIA BOULTON: I think it'll just become busier. But I'm very lucky. I've got a great business partner and a fantastic team behind me. So patients will be well looked after.
LORETTA RYAN: We're still being challenged by COVID, of course. How do you see us navigating the next 12 months through the pandemic?
MARIA BOULTON: I think initially it's going to be a bit tricky. We're still seeing a lot of COVID cases cropping up. We're seeing workforce shortages because of it. We're seeing strain in our hospitals. And now, in addition to that, we have flu cases and flu or severe flu ending up in hospitals. So it's going to be very difficult for the next few months.
LORETTA RYAN: Have people been heeding the warning about getting their flu shots?
MARIA BOULTON: We've seen an increase demand since the announcement was made last Monday. We've seen 30,000 more people come forth to get their flu shots, which is really good to see.
CRAIG ZONCA: How is that rollout going though? I know some GPs weren't all that happy when it was announced. And they're like, "Hang on. We've got no space in our appointment schedule. We don't have the vaccines to do this." Where are things up to as far as that's concerned, Dr Boulton?
MARIA BOULTON: This is not the first time that we've heard about a big announcement through the media without having the details to back it up. And what happened on Monday was that the announcement was made. And look, the initiative is fantastic. We support making flu vaccines more accessible. However, we didn't have any details, so we weren't able to tell our patients what vaccines were the free ones, for example. To their credit, Queensland Health have worked really hard since then to make sure that we iron out all those details and that information goes out to all general practices. And, you know, we do the bulk of flu vaccines every year. Thus far, we've done more than three million this year in general practice alone. So it is something we do every year, year in, year out. But it was just that detail of which vaccines are we able to use. Do we use the ones that we use for vulnerable people or do we use the free ones or the private ones that are in our fridges?
CRAIG ZONCA: And what's the answer to those questions?
MARIA BOULTON: So the answer was that we should be using the ones that we use for a private patient.
CRAIG ZONCA: Okay.
MARIA BOULTON: So the Government will reimburse us for that. However, there was some information going out to some rural and remote communities overnight stating that if they don't have a lot of private stock, they can use their National Immunisation Program stock.
CRAIG ZONCA: Okay. So just to make things a little more confusing. Medical receptionists, are they still pulling their hair out, Maria Boulton?
MARIA BOULTON: Yeah, look, they've been wonderful through all this. On Monday, all our phones went crazy. And it's really difficult for them because a) they didn't know the details either and b) when you have patients who are waiting online to actually get an appointment with a doctor on the phone for 10, 15 minutes, they get fairly cranky. So what we ask people to do is please, please, if you're booking a vaccine, please book online with your GP.
CRAIG ZONCA: Okay. Book online. Dr Maria Boulton with you. She's the new President of the Australian Medical Association here in Queensland.
LORETTA RYAN: And there are a few things that you'll be having to discuss, as you have in the past, but particularly as President now. Ambulance ramping is one thing that's been in the news a lot, and a report by the AMA, so a Report Card, demonstrated that every state and territory was failing to meet its performance targets for the time it takes to take patients from an ambulance to the emergency department. What can be done about this ongoing debate?
MARIA BOULTON: Yeah. And the situation's worse now with all the flu cases as well. I was speaking to a paramedic yesterday and she was deeply concerned. We developed our AMA Queensland Ramping Roundtable last year, and we actually provided some solutions. And some of those solutions included extra beds with the staff to go with it, of course. Also the ability to be able to discharge patients over the weekend. Also moving those patients who don't need to be in hospital. There are many people who are waiting for an aged care bed or an NDIS bed that don't need to be in hospital. So making those places available for those patients.
The other thing is looking at the way that patients flow. There are a lot of systems that can be used to optimise that, but above all, I mean, the system is in chaos. And it is just because of the goodwill of those healthcare workers and doctors that are working in emergency and ambulances and hospitals that patients are receiving the high level of care they're receiving. But there's never been a lot of capacity in the system, and COVID has really shown us that we do need capacity. We can't afford to be running hospitals that are 100 or 110 per cent capacity. We need to have that ability to surge. So hospitals need to be run at 90 per cent.
CRAIG ZONCA: So then what's your message to the State Government ahead of the Budget coming out in the next couple of weeks?
MARIA BOULTON: We'd like to have some real investment into hospitals, both federally and through the state. We have had discussions with them, they know our suggestions, and we appreciate that if they could sit down with us again to continue on those discussions. But they know this, they just need to act in the end. In the end, it's action that we need. It's very sad when patients are waiting in an ambulance. It's very sad when patients are waiting for months to get a gallbladder surgery. And it's patients that suffer in the end, and I think we need some real investment.
CRAIG ZONCA: There'll be a big focus on that, don't you worry, in our budget coverage here on ABC Radio Brisbane. Dr Boulton, just want to know a little bit more about yourself because you were born in El Salvador, fled civil war with your family. When you look back at your career and where you are now, what comes to mind for you? What are the experiences that have shaped you into the doctor you are today?
MARIA BOULTON: Yeah, I really cannot believe that I'm on the other side of the world to where I started. My husband was born in Australia and I met him here. But it's such a different life to where I started. So I was born in El Salvador, Central America, a very, very small country, and with a very much user-pays healthcare system, which is definitely not what it should be. There are many people who suffer a lot because they can't afford to access medical services.
I knew I wanted to be a doctor from very early on. One of my uncles, who was a fantastic medical student and graduated first in his class and used to do all this charity work, was tragically killed just after he graduated and never got to practise. And I think that caused an impression on me.
It's very different in El Salvador. We had a civil war. We had earthquakes. We had flooding. We had times where there was no power. You knew that you would lose power for four hours every day. Sometimes there wasn't any water. So it's a really interesting place to have started. And it really opened my eyes to all the need that was out there. And then my parents decided to leave El Salvador because it was becoming quite dangerous. One of the kids waiting to go to my school got kidnapped on the school line. My mum used to run English academies, and one of her academies got blown up during the civil war. So they decided no, enough is enough. We have to leave. And we were accepted by Sweden, Canada, and Australia. And my parents chose Australia just because of the weather because it was the closest to El Salvador.
LORETTA RYAN: Aren't you freezing today though, Maria?
MARIA BOULTON: Yeah.
LORETTA RYAN: And what do you remember as a young girl arriving in Australia for that very first time?
MARIA BOULTON: It was brilliant. We came on a Qantas jet, and I thought that the kangaroo on the plane was the best thing. And when we arrived in Australia, I kept on looking outside to see if I could see any kangaroos, or up trees to see if I could see any koalas. I didn't see any for months, so I was a bit disappointed. But it was really eerie.
Brisbane is a very big city compared to where I grew up. And this catching of public transport, I had never done that before. I had never caught a train. So it was a lot of change and a lot of getting used to, and also the accent. I could speak English, but my English was learned from British and American teachers, and the Australian accent is slightly different. So when people were saying, "Good day, mate," I thought they were saying "Good day, Mike." I kept saying, “but my name's not Mike”.
LORETTA RYAN: Well, we're so glad that you arrived here in Australia because you are now one of our top doctors. The AMA Queensland President, Dr Maria Boulton, we will be speaking to you often, I'm sure. Thanks so much for sharing your story with us.
MARIA BOULTON: Thank you.
31 May 2022
CONTACT: media@amaq.com.au 0419 735 641