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Transcript of Interview With AMA President, Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, on Sky2, Friday 24 June 2005

COMPERE: It's claimed that more than half of Australia's hospitals and health facilities have inadequate systems to ensure patient safety and prevent medical errors.

A report in The Australian newspaper claims only 63 of the 674 centres studied were rated as outstanding in terms of delivery of care. The Australian Council on Health Care Standards carried out the review and says it's surprised by the results. The hospitals were rated on 43 criteria including access to health care, staff qualifications and plans for a large-scale emergency.

And joining us on the line now is the President of the Australian Medical Association, Mukesh Haikerwal. Dr Haikerwal, should patients be worried about this report?

DR HAIKERWAL: Well look, I think that what we do have is a hospital system that, in general terms, is pretty good. What the report is showing us is that there are certainly signs that the pressure that hospitals are under is showing through. We have an excellent set of people within the hospitals and an excellent system. However, we've got to invest in them to maintain the worldclass status and to retain people working in them.

There was a report on Monday, which showed that many of the hospitals' elective surgery lists were cancelled because of the systems in the hospitals being inadequate. It's that sort of systemic problem we've got to fix, you know that we've got to employ people in there that are obviously safe and fit for tasks and also have time to stay properly up to speed with their training and allow others to train.

One of the biggest problems that this report highlights is if accreditation is lost from hospitals, they will no longer be able to train our next generation of medical personnel, nursing personnel and so on. And that would be disastrous.

COMPERE: So do you attribute a lack of training as to why so many hospitals in this report have been found to have inadequate systems to prevent and review medical errors?

DR HAIKERWAL: Yes, there is a problem with the time available for training, the time available for teaching, and those other things that really are important that are often seen as being embroidery and not core business. And I would say that teaching, training is core business and that the maintaining of a proper set of systems that people can be confident in is also important.

You know in general we have a very good system. We've just got to make sure that we bolster it, and that we support it, the facilities as well as the people because that's what's going to make the system stronger.

COMPERE: I guess this report couldn't have happened at a worse time for the nation's hospitals, given publicity surrounding the Dr Jayant Patel case.

DR HAIKERWAL: Look absolutely right. We wrote to all the Premiers and Chief Ministers last week to ask them what steps they're taking to support their hospitals to make sure the hospitals do have systems that work, to make sure that they do understand that they've got to invest in those and make them attractive places to work for doctors from our own country as well as from overseas.

And so far we've had no response but I think that this report should really put a bomb under them to make sure they actually get out and look at their systems and work out what they're going to do about it, and let's talk.

COMPERE: I mean it does just seem completely unacceptable that more than half of the nation's hospitals are considered too risky.

DR HAIKERWAL: Yes look, I think the too risky is probably not the actual health care delivery and services, but the overall 43 criteria that you talked of, that the report looks at. And some of them may not actually sort of be necessary in some and bearing in mind that this is a snapshot rather than a complete analysis of every single hospital. However, it does indicate systemic problems within the way hospitals are administered.

And I think we've got to get back to a system where doctors are and other medical - other health personnel are involved in decision-making and in that chain of command because, if you don't get clinical input into these decisions, they're often incorrect. And if we - and you lose. One of the things that are important to the people, that is their teaching and training opportunities and their opportunities to train others, and it's important that we do shore those up.

COMPERE: All right, Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, thank you very much for your time.

HAIKERWAL: Thanks, 'bye now.

Ends

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