President’s update: we finally have an election date, an update on the hospital logjam, and a bit of births, deaths, and Ahpra

Hello, and happy Friday,

I hope you enjoy our new streamlined format for Rounds!

I’m sure you’re all well and truly aware by now that the federal government has finally called the election for 3 May 2025. So, I’ll be in your inbox every week to ensure you’re aware of everything your national AMA is doing to advocate for you and your patients.

There are challenges and pressures; gaps and cracks and failings right across our healthcare system. This must be a health election to ensure you can get on with delivering care for your patients.

We’ve got solutions and reforms ready for general practice, for public hospitals, for private healthcare and for preventative health and we are ready with campaigns targeting voters and candidates. The AMA’s strength and influence opens doors, and we’ll be taking every opportunity to ensure the voice of the profession is heard. Both parties may think they’ve ticked the box on health with some large budget measures — but we all know that reforms are needed for a long term, sustainable solution to resourcing all arms of our healthcare system and providing the best possible patient care.

Clear the hospital logjam

Today we launched our renewed Clear the Hospital Logjam campaign.  Those with a keen eye will recognise the campaign, but it has had a full refresh with updated performance data for 352 hospitals around the country. Sadly, the news isn’t good — it will be of no surprise to all of you that overall, hospitals are performing worse than three years ago. Fewer hospitals are meeting benchmarks for ED and planned surgery wait times. Patients are waiting too long. Doctors are stretched. Governments must act, to resolve public hospital resourcing.

At our campaign webpage, voters can search to see how their local hospital is performing and send an email to their local candidate to be part of the campaign for change. I encourage you to do the same, and to share the campaign widely!

This campaign is a great example of how your AMA is committed to change. Advocacy is a long game and clearly this isn’t the first time we’ve talked about the strain on public hospitals. We coined the term ‘logjam’ and we are continually highlighting the issues, taking any opportunity for press coverage. We also engage voters to be our supporters for change and of course tell politicians directly what needs to be done — funding reform and a new National Health Reform Agreement. We won’t give up.

General practice reform

In other news, I’m continuing to push for reforms in general practice — we’ve seen a plethora of reviews over the past two years, and finally the Department of Health and Aged Care has brought  together an expert advisory group to help make sense of the intersecting recommendations and help chart a path forward. I will be your representative on that group and will do my very best to ensure that GPs are recognised as the cornerstone of healthcare in Australia. We must fund the complexity of general practice and Modernise Medicare to meet the needs of today and tomorrow.

Ahpra forum

I was also in Melbourne earlier this week for the Ahpra: Shaping better regulatory experiences forum. We heard some really confronting, personal stories of vexatious complaints, colleagues who have died by suicide while under investigation, and managing the impact of a notification with underlying mental illness. It is so important that Ahpra heard these stories too. Importantly, we also heard what has changed and is changing — tangible restructuring of how notifications are handled so that a doctor sees them early; early triage; direct phone contact; a clear point of contact at Ahpra; quicker handling of investigations; less independent medical reviews and more trust in treating team reports; and a framework for vexatious complaints (this one was a particular initiative of the AMA).

These changes and more all contribute to a better notifications experience. Notifications will always be stressful, and most of us will have a complaint at some time in our career. Most of these will amount to no further action and so we need the process to be as smooth as possible. Yes, there is still much to do, and we will continue to push for improvements and hold Ahpra to account, but we are starting to hear better experiences from doctors under investigation. I can assure you we are in the room and making sure that is happening.

In the media

I was in the media this week following our media releases on the need for flu vaccination, and the AMA’s latest voluntary assisted dying (VAD) position statement calling for changes to laws related to VAD and telehealth arrangements. Looks like we’re headed for a bumper flu season, so make sure you get your fluvax! I know not all clinics have vaccines in stock yet, but they are rolling out across the country and again I thank you all for managing what will be an incredibly busy period.

Birth forum

Finally, today I’m in Sydney with NASOG at the Australian Birth Forum. Clearly both public and private maternity are facing huge challenges across the country. Keep an eye on my LinkedIn where I’ll post an update, and also let you know more here next week.