President's update: Four Corners investigation, AMA committees, and Mardi Gras

Like many of you, I was disturbed by the allegations regarding a retired Melbourne gynaecologist that were aired on Four Corners on ABC TV on Monday evening. My thoughts are with the brave women who shared their distressing stories, and the other physicians and healthcare workers who raised or attempted to raise concerns about treatment. Australians deserve access to safe, evidence-based healthcare, and I know that’s what the vast majority of our colleagues deliver. And we should all be working in a system of collegiate support to improve our practice, with trusted regulators to step in and protect the public when necessary.

At the AMA, we support Ahpra’s decision to investigate this case and review its systems and processes to determine if changes need to be made as part of its critical role in protecting the public. Transparent and trusted complaints and regulatory processes are critical to our health system.

Inside the AMA, we had a raft of committee meetings this week. Committees are the engine room of the AMA and allow us to harness your energy, experience and expertise on major issues facing our profession.

Last weekend our Council of Doctors in training met. As the future of our profession their energy and enthusiasm to build a sustainable future is inspiring. They tackled the hard issues of doctors’ wellbeing, costs of training, and workforce sustainability.

Our Equity, Inclusion and Diversity Committee had really practical conversations about how we better support doctors across their careers — most of our focus this meeting was how to progress work on supporting doctors who have returned from a period of prolonged leave. Thank you to all of you who completed our recent survey. We are now in the process of analysing these results and developing an advocacy plan. Other priorities for the year include supporting pregnant doctors and new parents, ensuring doctors with disability are supported, and tackling racism in healthcare.

Our Mental Health Committee also met for the first time this year, with members tackling complex issues like the follow up and continuity of care for people with severe mental illness, following a number of public incidents where mental illness is cited as a contributor, the most public of these being the 2024 Bondi Junction stabbing and the recent coronial inquest into this case. We also had broader discussions about our mental health system needing adequate support not only for prevention and early intervention, but also the full continuum of illness including chronic, complex, severe and relapsing mental illness.

And last but certainly not lease, our Council of Private Specialist Practice members convened last night. Clearly given the media and political focus on specialist fees, this was the main item of discussion, but we also progressed discussions on vertical integration by insurers and managed care. We continue to reiterate that blaming doctors solely for the increased healthcare costs faced by patients is inaccurate and unfair. The neglect of Medicare rebates and public hospital services by governments, and medical benefits by insurers, has led to widening gaps between the cost of providing care and patient supports from government or their insurance. We will continue to call this out

And Thursday was GP day, with both Professor Karen Price, Chair of the AMA Council of General Practice, and I attending the National Council of Primary Care Doctors, which is a collaborative of people bodies representing GPs. I also attended another meeting of the expert panel advising government on how to progress the various reviews into GP over the past few years. Both discussions centred on continuity of care and patient safety, and the need for policy settings that genuinely support high‑quality, GP‑led care.

Before I let you go, I’m excited to share that our AMA team will be out and proud tomorrow night at Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras! Keep an eye on the televised parade for our full float with some fabulous scrubs kindly donated by Scrubs With Love. Last year we copped some teasing for our dance moves…so I know the team has been practicing hard! This is the second year AMA has marched in support of better health outcomes for LGBTQIASB+ communities, including our own colleagues.

Have an excellent Mardi Gras weekend!

I’m off on leave next week, enjoying the sights and flavours of Tasmania. So I’ll catch you again in a couple of weeks!