Latest wins: President and CEO update - October 2024
With the state election now less than a month away, we continue to ensure the concerns of our members and communities are heard to create the best health outcomes for all.
Between releasing our Election Priorities 2024 and Surgical Wait List Roundtable Action Plan, receiving a personalised letter from the health minister detailing the government’s response to specific calls in our Budget Submission 2024-25, and the LNP announcing its commitment to exempt GPs from payroll tax after three years of fierce advocacy, it’s been a busy month for AMA Queensland.
With the state election now less than a month away, we continue to ensure the concerns of our members and communities are heard to create the best health outcomes for all.
RECENT WINS
Payroll tax exemption
After three years of fierce advocacy from AMA Queensland, the LNP Opposition has committed to exempt GPs from payroll tax if it wins government.
The announcement on Sunday 28 September is a welcome decision that recognises the cost-of-living crisis by eliminating a new levy being passed on to patients.
This has been a hard-fought win, and we are now urging Labor to match the commitment ahead of the 26 October election.
While we thank the state government for the amnesty and the Queensland Revenue Office for its Public Ruling clarifying that payments made by a patient directly to a GP will not attract this new tax, there is still too much uncertainty.
GPs remain concerned that they will be audited, as they don’t know what will happen when the payroll tax amnesty or when federal MyMedicare payments are implemented next year.
Non-GP private specialists also remained concerned. They are still not eligible for the amnesty and have no certainty that they will not be hit with crippling retrospective bills out of the blue.
While we would much prefer to be employing nurses and caring for patients, this is a very welcome first step. We will continue to call for all private medical practices to be exempt from this new interpretation of the tax.
State Government address our advocacy priorities
It’s a mark of successful advocacy when the Minister not only acts on our calls but writes a seven-page letter detailing the government’s response to specific priority items in our Budget Submission 2024-25.
The letter outlines targeted initiatives set out in the Queensland Budget in direct response to AMA Queensland’s priority areas.
From workforce and training pathways to First Nations and women’s health, we are incredibly pleased the government has listened and implemented many of our recommendations for the sake of our health system and patient’s health.
We appreciate the time and consideration that went into this letter and its clear recognition of AMA Queensland’s contribution to improving health policy in our state.
We look forward to ongoing collaboration with both sides of politics following the election to improve health outcomes for all Queenslanders.
Patient Care Facilitators
AMA Queensland called for the introduction of Patient Care Facilitators (PCFs) in our Ramping Roundtable Action Plan which are now being trialled in locations across Logan and Ipswich.
We commend Health Minister Shannon Fentiman and the Queensland Government for taking up our recommendation as a long-term strategy to reduce stress on hospital emergency departments.
We know from studies that if patients see their GP within two days following hospital discharge, they are 32 per cent less likely to bounce back into hospital in the first week.
We also know how important it is for patients to have access to a regular GP for continuity of care.
PCFs will work with the hospital-based discharge coordinator (HDC) to identify eligible patients, review their patient information and ensure discharge summaries are received.
The program is a significant investment for general practice that will ensure patients are supported following hospital discharge and we hope to see it rolled out statewide.
OUR CAMPAIGNS
Election Priorities
AMA Queensland has released its Election Priorities 2024, identifying 17 priority areas for reforms that will greatly benefit Queensland’s patients, doctors and the community.
Queensland’s health workforce crisis has deepened on the back of the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the worldwide shortage of doctors, nurses and other healthcare practitioners.
This has led to our own workforce shortages, elective surgery delays, ambulance ramping and growing financial pressures on general practice.
These problems have been building for decades and while some are out of our control, there are levers we can pull to start fixing things.
We offer our Election Priorities as a blueprint for all parties. We encourage whoever forms government after 26 October to commit to these reforms to improve the health of every Queenslander.
Surgical Wait List Roundtable Action Plan
After seven meetings and countless hours of research and strategising, AMA Queensland’s Surgical Wait List Roundtable has now concluded ahead of the state election.
To guide its work, the Roundtable identified the current key barriers to regional elective surgery access as flawed structural and governance arrangements and the inadequate investment in the regional health workforce.
The result is the Surgical Wait List Roundtable Action Plan detailing a series of solutions to inequitable elective surgery wait times for regional and rural Queensland patients for implementation by the Queensland Government.
The solutions have been developed for implementation in both short-to-medium and medium-to-long terms.
Stronger, more capable regional and remote healthcare will reduce interhospital transfers and free up tertiary hospital beds. Thriving regional health services create system efficiencies, improve patient satisfaction and strengthen our valuable communities.
AMA Queensland urges Queensland Health to implement these recommended strategies in collaboration with its dedicated regional health workforce and offers to work with the Department to support that aim.
ADVOCACY EFFORTS
Free RSV vaccine successfully protecting babies
AMA Queensland called for free access to the RSV immunisation as soon as it became available in Australia earlier this year to keep babies healthy and out of hospital.
Since the free rollout, the number of Queensland babies under six months being diagnosed with RSV has plummeted from 100 a week in April to just 12 in the first week of September.
The cost barrier to keep up with all the recommended vaccinations and immunisations for children is a challenge for so many families.
Making essential vaccines free is proving to be effective at protecting vulnerable communities and reducing hospitalisations.
Although RSV is the main cause of hospitalisations for children aged five and under, this data is positive, and we are confident this free rollout will continue to change that statistic.
Decarbonising our health system one commute at a time
Our Climate and Sustainability Working Group recently developed and finalised an Active Travel Position Statement with the support of other climate and public organisations to motivate urgent action from our governments.
So, when the Queensland Government announced its decision to implement 50c public transport fares throughout the state, it was seen as a step in the right direction.
CSWG member Dr Katie Panaretto speaks to the pros, cons and limitations to the 50c fare trial in a recent article for AMA Queensland’s Doctor Q Spring magazine.
“Improving Queensland’s public transport infrastructure is a beast of its own, but from a health and environmental perspective, reducing the economic barrier to access is a great place to start,” Dr Panaretto said.
“Getting out of our cars and spending more time outside is a key part of the roadmap to better community health. We need to see our governments and councils implementing further systems that not only enable active options for communities but encourages their uptake.”
The myriad of benefits for preventive health are clear and AMA Queensland and the CSWG are seeking further collaboration with other health agencies and government bodies to keep the progress in motion.
CDT Update
It has been an incredibly busy few months for the Committee of Doctors in Training as they progress with several projects.
The Resident Hospital Health Check is now complete, and the data is expected to be collated by next month. The committee is looking forward to using the results to inform future advocacy and educate the public and future doctors.
The CDT has also been collaborating with the Federal Council of Doctors in Training to advance their position statement following the ward call survey completed late last year.
The survey provided detailed insight into junior doctors’ experience on ward call in various hospitals across the state and a report is expected to be published in the coming months.
Fluoridated water
AMA Queensland has urged Cairns and Gympie Regional Councils to ensure community water fluoridation after members raised concerns about increasing prevalence and severity of oral disease, particularly among children.
Gympie Regional Council is considering pulling fluoride from water after councillors appeared to sympathise with a 650-signature petition opposing the oral health plan.
Cairns Regional Council ended fluoridation in 2013 and the impacts are being seen in poorer oral health.
Many of the concerns surrounding fluoridated water are based in misinformation despite unmistakable evidence that fluoride is a safe and evidence-based investment to reduce tooth decay and long-term chronic health conditions.
One in 10 Queenslanders do not have enough functional teeth to chew food. AMA Queensland encourages the state government to reinstate the fluoridation mandate and assist local councils with the cost of this important preventive health measure.
Investing in fluoridated water will prevent the consequences of tooth decay and chronic illnesses, minimising the number of future hospital presentations.
