Australian Medical Association

"Most of the claims that occur against the doctor, as has been proven over and over again, has got little to do about negligence and more to do about patients attempting to get some sort of compensation for an adverse outcome," Dr Glasson said. "So I don't think by putting a notice a, you know, a notice up on the internet for some people to access actually explains the situation and why this situation may have occurred, and certainly in no way tells you, by identifying that, in no way tells you whether that is a good or a bad doctor."

"People talk about the feminisation of medicine with more than 50 per cent of graduates being women and more than 50 per cent going into GP training be women. But of course it's not just the feminisation, it's also what I'd call the socialisation where the guys are looking to work more reasonable hours as well," said Dr Haikerwal.

AMA Vice President, Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, responds to the report from Monash University on its findings on the employment of overseas trained doctors in Australia.

"The mood amongst general practitioners has been quite upbeat, obviously from a low base, but we see a lot of good in what's been announced. There are some concerns, however. These are around the limitation of some of the workforce issues to areas of need, and of course all of Australia will soon be an area of need if we don't address this across the board," said Dr Mukesh Haikerwal.

"I think we need to attract students who are born in the areas that we need them to go to. We need to train them in the areas that they need to go to, and that's very important. And thirdly, and probably the most important thing, is they need to marry in the areas that you want them to work," said Dr Bill Glasson.

"I've just emerged from a two hour meeting with the Prime Minister and two Ministers, and we've had a very important discussion about the future of the health system in this country and about Medicare," AMA President, Dr Kerryn Phelps said. "I have to say that in other circumstances you would be hearing today from me about what would be on the front pages and the lead stories in your news bulletins but, given international events, that's going to be another matter. "But I do have to say that health is the major domestic policy concern for Australians. It is something that I am pleased to say the government has now turned its full attention to, and there will be some changes to the way the health system works, and to Medicare policy."

"The fact remains that there is a subset of patients for whom the only effective treatment is cannabis," said Dr Kerryn Phelps.

"What the studies are showing around this pharmacy issue is that there is an important role for a team approach to the delivery of health care, and that's not just in hospitals but also in the community," said Dr Mukesh Haikerwal. "What we're finding is that it's very important that when people are dealing with medications, and there are millions of prescriptions every day, that at the time of prescribing there need to be checks, at the time of dispensing there need to be checks, and of course at the time it's taken, there also needs to be checks there, too."

"I suppose it's the last straw that's broken the patient's back. I keep saying - and they're saying that the system is wrong, the system is, has failed probably about a decade ago, and what they're asking for, really more than anything ... is a new model, I suppose, of indemnity in this country. A model that guarantees affordability for patients and guarantees security for doctors. And the current system does not do that," said Dr Bill Glasson.

"One particular negative one I'd like to bring up, is around vaccination. Obviously the vaccination schedule - the Australian Standards Vaccination Schedule which recommends appropriate vaccines for our children and adults - we feel should be funded in full, but particularly the pneumococcal vaccine," Dr Bill Glasson said. "This is a ridiculous situation where we've got a vaccine that can actually prevent diseases, prevent disability, prevent our children actually ending up with severe, often disabling, conditions for the rest of their life, where for an input of about $62 million we could vaccinate all children in Australia."