President’s update: post-election, surgeons, IMGs and getting on with GP reform

Hello and happy Friday!

I'm in Adelaide today for the AMA(SA) Access to Care Round Table. I'm looking forward to catching up with our South Australian colleagues and taking part in the event which is looking at the ways we can better support primary care, preventive care and better-connected care in order to reduce overall health system burden. This is, of course, something at the heart of so much of the work we advocate for at the federal level, and I am looking forward to joining AMA(SA) and allied stakeholders to discuss these vital issues.

Now, I’m sure this comes as absolutely no surprise to anyone, but we had a federal election last weekend and the government has been re-elected. We don’t yet have confirmation of who will be health minister — although all signs point to continuity in the role — but once the dust settles and ministers are announced we are ready to hit the ground running and continue to advocate for our members, for the medical profession, and for our patients.

Here's some of the highlights from our advocacy in the lead-up to the election. 

The other big event from last week was the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) Annual Scientific Congress in Sydney. It was a fantastic weekend, great to hang out with the surgeons and to catch up with many friends. Hearing from colleagues from across the globe about the similarities and differences between our systems was very insightful and made me even more grateful to live and work in Australia, despite the many challenges we face.

I had the privilege to be part of a panel with Mark Frydenberg, Bridget Clancy, Michael Holland, Catherine McDougall and Brett Goods discussing the big issues in surgery, including the balance of public and private care, achieving equity in service provision, rural and regional care and training our next generation of surgeons. The panel was moderated by Tony Jones of the ABC TV show Q+A fame, and it was quite the Q+A!

Our panel followed one of medicine’s BIGGEST celebrities — the one and only Dr Glaucomflecken (AKA Will Flanary) — who offered some stark insights into the US healthcare system and what not to do here in Australia. Again, while we work for system reform, we still have it better (as do our patients) here in Australia.

And on that point, the work continues towards realising these much-needed reforms. On Monday, I was part of the Primary Care and Workforce Reviews Taskforce, working to bring together the many GP reviews from the last few years and trying to find a path forward to improve primary care. It is an honour to represent the AMA on this expert panel advising the Department of Health and Aged Care as we carry out this vital work.

Tuesday again provided more opportunities to keep pushing for primary care reform, this time with the MBS Review Advisory Committee (MRAC), contributing to the government’s review into time-based consultation items. We will continue to push for a new seven-tier consultation item structure — a key ask in our Modernise Medicare campaign — to allow patients to spend longer with their doctor, particularly to manage chronic conditions and reduce the pressure on the rest of the healthcare system.

Our AMA International Medial Graduate Work Group (IMG-WG) met on Tuesday night to continue to determine how we might make the experience of working in our healthcare system better for our International Medical Graduates (IMGs). We’ve been undertaking some surveys and research, and I look forward to sharing that shortly. Improving the experience of IMG doctors in Australia is a pressing issue for the AMA and it is heartening to see some good progress being made and pathways to advocating for material improvements emerging.

I also welcome the new Ahpra CEO Justin Untersteiner, and his commitment to implement major reforms at Ahpra. As you would be aware, we have been advocating to Ahpra for years to better protect doctors from harm when facing investigations from Ahpra. We look forward to working with the new CEO and continuing to ensure our doctors are supported to be their best. 

As you can see, the election is over but we are continuing to get on with our work here at your national AMA. I look forward to updating you again next Friday!