Australian Medical Association

On 3 March 2010, the Commonwealth Government announced its National Health and Hospitals Network policy – the first phase of its health reform package. The first phase focuses on arrangements for the funding and governance for public hospitals and primary care.

The Prime Minister also foreshadowed in his speech further initiatives in the future concerning:

• the inadequacy of hospital bed numbers, including specific problems in emergency departments, elective surgery and sub-acute care;
• the expansion of primary care;
• the undersupply of doctors, nurses and other health professionals;
• the inadequacy of electronic health records across the system; and
• preventative health care, aged care, mental health and dental health services.

The AMA Public Hospital Report Card 2009 is an analysis of the most up-to-date national data on public hospital performance plus more recent feedback from doctors working in public hospitals in all States and Territories.

It shows that Australia’s public hospitals continue to be seriously under-funded and are struggling to meet growing public demand for their services.

People still experience excessive waits in emergency departments and excessive waits for admission to a hospital bed. Waiting times for elective surgery have been getting longer.

The Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) has developed changes to the federal legislation which restricts access to Medicare provider numbers and effectively limits where international medical graduates and “former overseas medical students” can work for a minimum period of 10 years – the “10-year moratorium”. AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, has written to Minister for Health and Ageing to request that the proposed amendments be introduced into Federal Parliament.

The consortium of eleven graduate medical schools is seeking the ACCC’s permission to continue its policies and practices for selecting applicants to graduate medical schools. These include the preference policy where applicants submit a single application to the Graduate Australian Medical Schools Admission Centre, and the one interview policy whereby applicants receive only one offer for an interview.

In its submission the AMA has said that, on balance, the public benefits from authorising the graduate medical school consortium to continue these polices and practices outweighs any potential drawbacks;  however, the AMA has noted that where a graduate medical school uses the interview process to look for certain qualities in an applicant, there is the potential for the applicant to be disadvantaged by the interview process in some circumstances. The AMA has encouraged the ACCC to address these issues in the authorisation process.

AMA Position Statement: Workplace Bullying and Harassment - 2009

There is good evidence that bullying and harassment of doctors occurs in the workplace. One Australian study found that 50% of Australian junior doctors had been bullied in their workplace, and a New Zealand study reported that 50% of doctors had experienced at least one episode of bullying behaviour during their previous three or sixth-month clinical attachment.

Workplace bullying of members of the medical workforce can occur between colleagues students and employees, and any contractors, patients, and family members with whom they are dealing.

The evidence is clear that workplace bullying contributes to poor employee health including the physical and psychological manifestations of stress and depression. Workplace bullying may affect medical students, junior doctors or senior specialists. Workplace bullying and harassment may impact on the training and education of doctors. It creates a poor learning environment due to the continued erosion of confidence, skills and initiative of the doctor, thereby creating a negative attitude towards their chosen specialty.

The AMA has prepared this position statement on workplace bullying and harassment in order to:

• to provide a guide for all doctors, hospital and practice managers to identify and manage workplace bullying and harassment;
• to raise awareness and reduce the exposure of doctors to workplace bullying and harassment; and
• to assist the medical profession in combating its perpetuation.

The AMA Position Statement on Electronic Prescription Transfer Systems – 2009 supports the development of an electronic prescription transfer system as a fundamental building block for a broader eHealth system in Australia. It sets out the high level principles that should underpin an electronic prescription transfer system.

The development of an e system in Australia is supported by:

1. the National eHealth Strategy
2. the KPMG Consultancy in Electronic Prescribing and Dispensing Final Report (commissioned by the Department of Health and Ageing);
3. the National Health and Hospital Reform Commission (NHHRC) Interim Report, including the supplementary paper on person-controlled electronic health records; and
4. commercial vendors actively promoting their prescribing systems.

The AMA position on other aspects of eHealth are set out in the following position statements:

AMA Position Statement – Unique Healthcare Identifiers – 2008
AMA Position Statement – Connectivity – 2007
AMA Position Statement – Safety and Quality of E-Health Systems – 2006

The Federal Parliament's Senate Community Affairs Committee is conducting an Inquiry into the Health Workforce Australia Bill 2009 (the "Bill"). The Commonwealth agreed to establish a new health workforce agency at the November 2008 Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting and this Bill seeks to implement that commitment.

The AMA has provided a submission to the Senate Inquiry.

The AMA has made a submission to the Department of Health and Ageing in response to the report released by DoHA on the outcomes of the Point of Care Testing (PoCT) trial in general practice.

The AMA President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, has written to the Minister for Health and Ageing to seek assurances that there will be sufficient clinical training positions for interns and specialist trainees in the public sector.

The AMA provided feedback on the National Health and Hospital Reform Commission’s interim report in April 2009

The feedback is set out in the table below. The AMA President also attended a one-on-one briefing session with the Chair of the Commission in April 2009 to more fully outline the AMA's views on the Commission's interim report.

The Government recently introduced legislation that as part of a broad range of reforms  to taxation and welfare programs, will change the rules for claiming an income tax deduction for personal superannuation contributions.

This fact sheet provides basic information about the change and how you can be involved in AMA lobbying efforts to have the legislation amended.

AMA Position Statement: Clinical support time for public hospital doctors - 2009

The AMA defines clinical support time as protected time for duties that are not directly related to individual patient care. Clinical support duties encompass most aspects of the teaching, continuing professional development, clinical governance, administration and research activities undertaken by clinicians in the public health sector.

The purpose of this position statement is to specify a minimum benchmark of remunerated time for clinical support duties for senior and junior clinicians. It includes a comprehensive list of the roles and responsibilities that constitute clinical support time to assist with developing job descriptions and work schedules.

The AMA's response to Matter number AM 2008/13.

The AMA has made a submission in response to the draft national awards and also appeared before AIRC hearings in Sydney. The AMA has argued that the new awards may result in cost increases for some private medical practices as they prescribe, in some cases, more generous working conditions than those contained in existing awards. The AMA submission called on the AIRC to bring working conditions in the proposed awards back into line with current awards so that medical practices are not hit with increases in costs.

The AMA's response to Towards a National Primary Health Care Strategy - A Discussion Paper from the Australian Government.

Information about employment conditions of GP Registrars. The minimum employment conditions of GP registrars in GP terms 1 and 2 are set by the National Minimum Terms and Conditions for GP Registrars. The 2009 agreement applies from the start of the 2009 training year and a copy is attached below.

AMA Public Hospital Report Card 2008

An AMA analysis of Australia's public hospital system.

AMA Submission to the Maternity Services Review - 2008

AMA Position Statement: Hospitalists - 2008

The AMA Survey Report on Junior Doctor Health and Wellbeing presents the findings of the AMA's survey of the health and wellbeing of 914 junior doctors at the postgraduate year 2 level and above across Australia and New Zealand.

To read the full report click here AMA Survey Report on Junior Doctor Health and Wellbeing

The medical profession has a strong commitment to high quality patient care. This commitment often translates to working patterns that may leave you exposed to higher than acceptable risks of fatigue.

The attached submission has been prepared by the AMA Council of Doctors in Training (AMACDT)

AMA Position Statement: Health Workforce Reform - 2008

GP Super Clinics Submission

AMA Work-life flexibility survey report

A guide for prospective medical students on the steps to becoming a doctor and the bonded medical places that are offered by the Australian Government.

AMA Public Hospital Report Card 2007

AMA/RDAA Rural Workforce Rescue Package Fact Sheet

AMA Policy for Better Health Care in Regional, Rural and Remote Australia

AMA Position Statement: Referrals within the Profession - 2007

AMA's submission in response to the Exposure Drafts of the Human Services (Enhanced Service Delivery) Bill 2007 and the Human Services (Enhanced Service Delivery) (Consequential) Bill 2007 for the Access Card (August 2007).