AMA leaders meet with Ahpra and the Medical Board
The AMA met with Ahpra and the Medical Board to discuss current and emerging issues including progress on the over-70s health check, the roll-out of the expedited SIMG pathway, recent notifications data as well as closed loop prescribing.
The AMA met with Ahpra and the Medical Board on 29 October. We discussed the AMA’s submission to the over-70s health check consultation and received updates on the Board’s progress. We also received updates on notification data. Ahpra representatives commented on the overall increase in notifications across Australia across all health professions. While notification rates continue to increase, we were pleased to see Ahpra continue to reduce the average time to complete notifications.
We also discussed our concerns with how quickly the new expedited Specialist International Medical Graduates (SIMG) pathway is being introduced. This new pathway commenced for general practice on 21 October and applications have begun to come in. We discussed the application process, ongoing funding for the pathway and sought clarity on supervision and assessment arrangements. We were pleased to hear that our protests against Ahpra registration fees being used to fund other programs have been heard, and that this pathway is not being funded out of registration fees.
We also again discussed our concerns with closed-loop prescribing models, particularly medicinal cannabis providers. We were pleased to hear an update on the multi-agency work Ahpra and the Medical Board are participating in with other boards, the Therapeutic Goods Administration and others. There is firm agreement that these models pose risks consumers and health professions. We will work with the Board to arrange a forum of regulators and peak bodies to discuss the issue in the coming months.
