President and CEO update - September 2023
President Dr Maria Boulton and CEO Dr Brett Dale give an update on payroll tax, pharmacy prescribing, 60-day dispensing, National Law, vaping, member networking and AMA Awards and this year's Annual Conference.
It’s been a case of one step forward, five steps back in the past month. We saw a new nation-leading Public Ruling on payroll tax for all Queensland medical practices and an extension of time to register for the amnesty. We also saw the start of 60-day dispensing nationally, which will save patients time and money. But we also saw the unexpected and completely unwarranted expansion of the North Queensland pharmacy prescribing pilot to the entire state.
Payroll tax
The Queensland Revenue Office (QRO) has given clarity to all medical centres, not just general practices, that confirms direct payments from patients to practitioners are not subject to payroll tax liability.
This is a welcome relief for many different medical businesses that had been left in limbo since the release of the QRO’s previous ruling in December 2022.
Non-GP practices should also now be included in the amnesty given this ruling applies to all specialists and other health businesses.
Our priority has always been to ensure practices do not have to pass this new tax onto their patients, and this decision means patients likely won’t face extra fees when seeing their doctor.
We are working with our corporate partners to ensure this solution is practical and we urge all practices to contact their professional advisers for updated advice in time for the new deadline of 10 November 2023.
Pharmacy prescribing
Like all medical groups, we were completely blindsided by Health Minister Shannon Fentiman’s decision to expand the North Queensland scope of practice pilot to the entire state. This was announced by media release on World Pharmacist Day, with no consultation or advance warning for anyone but pharmacy lobby groups.
Minister Fentiman has not yet released full details of how many conditions will be covered under this pilot, or how it will be monitored and evaluated.
This is a reckless decision and an experiment with patient safety that will do nothing to address regional workforce shortages or reduce emergency department presentations.
In fact, Minister Fentiman released figures this week showing that urinary tract infection presentations to EDs have increased, not decreased, since pharmacists started diagnosing and selling antibiotics for UTIs in 2020.
We respect and value our pharmacy colleagues. They are experts in medication and provide an essential safety check, which is why there has traditionally been a separation between prescribing and dispensing.
We will continue to seek clarity on how this pilot will work, what training pharmacists will need, which conditions will be covered and how it will be monitored – all of which were missing under the UTI pilot.
60-day dispensing
Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt, a Queensland Senator, visited Family Doctors Plus in Windsor on 1 September to mark the start of 60-day dispensing.
Senator Watt described it as an important day for Queensland and estimated Queenslanders have already saved more than $27 million this year from changes to the cost of Pharmaceutical Benefits Schedule (PBS) medications.
Dr Boulton took the opportunity to raise the impacts of payroll tax on medical practices around the nation.
National Law
The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) has announced further changes to protect patients from untrained operators working in the cosmetics industry.
These reforms are long overdue to protect the public from adverse events from non-surgical injectable cosmetic procedures including Botox and fillers.
These are invasive procedures that can still have side effects and complications including drooping eyelids or infection at the injection site.
AMA Queensland Vice President Dr Nick Yim spoke to ABC Queensland about this on 5 September.
Vaping
Queensland teachers are increasingly reporting cases of children as young as 10 who are addicted to nicotine vapes, leading to anxiety, agitation and concentration difficulties.
Dr Nick Yim regularly visits schools in the Fraser Coast region to talk to students and school leaders about the health risks of vaping.
This month AMA Queensland Councillor Dr Hash Abdeen, spoke to 4BC about the health impacts of vaping on developing brains and lungs. He called for Big Tobacco to take responsibility for its actions in getting new generations of non-smokers addicted to nicotine.
Member Networking Event and AMA Awards
We are inviting members to raise a glass with us to the end of 2023 with an AMA Queensland networking event on Wednesday 8 November.
AMA President Professor Steve Robson will be there to update us on how the federal body is working for us on issues from Medicare reform to hospital logjam. He will also present AMA Awards to three deserving Queenslanders who have done so much for our profession, our association and our community.
We can’t tell you who they are until the night but believe us, you will want to applaud their achievements.
This event is free for AMA Queensland members but tickets are limited.
Annual Conference
It was an incredible privilege to be able to attend the AMA Queensland Annual Conference in the beautiful country of Portugal in September.
We were able to hear directly from our Portuguese colleagues about their experiences with drug law reform, which was particularly timely given the Queensland Government’s welcome moves in this direction this year.
Next year’s conference will be in Athens, Greece.
