Council news

as Isaac Tennant of the University of Adelaide and Jordyn Tomba of Flinders University.

this is not a good use of resources; nor is it helpful for patients.

Dr Brian Peat Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Representative

February

As has become our custom, chair Dr Peter Subramaniam began the meeting on 2 February with an acknowledgement of the Kaurna people, the custodians of the Adelaide Plains and greeted us with some words from the Kaurna language. New medical student representatives were introduced

COVID was again the first item of business. Comments suggested that members believe the published numbers are an underestimate of the true number in the state. SA Health has called for expressions of interest for GP clinics to take on the task of the respiratory clinics due to close at the end of February. Councillors agreed that while there had been little word about access to the next ‘booster’ healthcare workers, at least, should be able to receive a fifth dose. (Federal Health Minister Mark Butler announced six days after the meeting that fifth doses would become available from late February.)

A huge effect of the pandemic has been the increase of elective (non-urgent) surgery waiting lists. At present the focus on reducing this has been to operate on Category I patients. The private sector is at capacity. Category III patients, such as those awaiting hip surgery, are being further delayed. In many cases, non-urgent cases are being delayed until they become urgent and an emergency. We noted that proposes to enable training medical officers to keep their entitlements such as for annual leave, sick leave and long service leave.

The next item was the loss of training accreditation of several areas of the Women’s and Children’s Hospital: general medicine, and the paediatric and neo-natal intensive care units (PICU and NICU). It was explained that the fundamental problem is staff shortages, especially at the junior levels. One outcome is that teaching and research time are being sacrificed to provide a service function. It is a vicious cycle; without accreditation the units cannot recruit quality staff and cannot regain training accreditation. Without trainees, there will be no specialists. SA Health is aware, and the Minister is aware, but we await the solution.

Negotiations have begun for the new fee-for-service contract for rural doctors. Support was expressed for the so-called single employer model (SEM) for GP trainees.

The future crisis in general practice workforce was highlighted: only about 19% of junior doctors are expressing an interest in general practice as a career and many GP training positions are unfilled.

Dr Andrew Russell Physician Representative

March

Despite being an AMA(SA) Council member for some time, in various roles, I continue to be impressed by the breadth of the issues discussed within our Council.

We began with an update on a meeting with AMA Tasmania where recently a single employer model has been introduced for trainee medical officers within the health system. The model

The next agenda item was COVID-19. Many people are now eligible for a winter booster or 2023 dose with the focus on bivalent vaccines due from early March. It appears that most vaccinations will be delivered by general practices and pharmacies. The president is planning to discuss the future vaccination plans of SA health for public hospital staff with the Minister. Discussion about Long COVID referred to an SA Health webinar aimed at GPs but potentially useful for all doctors. This led onto a discussion of COVID-19 fatigue, workforce culture, and local and national responses.

We then addressed regional Issues and the closure of practices. Many country GPs are approaching retirement with a significant threat to future services. A member outlined their experience of a significant contrast between the responses in Victoria and in South Australia to a regional practice closure. AMA(SA) is again involved in negotiating contracts for rural doctors.

Accreditation for paediatric training at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital continues to demand resources. Issues include balancing clinical workloads; quarantined research, teaching and study time; and ensuring trainees receive adequate, supervised clinical experience within supportive learning and clinical environments. This requires a medical, cultural and human relations response.

Decriminalisation of abortion in South Australia as led to some changes in how women can and should be able to access terminations in South Australia.

We considered again the issue of junior doctor shortages. There is some frustration at the poor of data within the SA Health system. There are significant incentives for junior medical officers to move to other states.

There was mention of a federal roundtable on GP services as part of the Medicare modernisation and the election promised delivery of urgent care clinics without planning or consultation.

Nominations to join Council are now open. Members can nominate to fill several positions, and Councillors can nominate for the President and Vice President roles.

BENJAMIN ALLEN

BEN BEAMOND

COLLIE BEGG

SAMUEL BENVENISTE

SCOTT BRUMBY

DAVID CAMPBELL

NICHOLAS CHABREL

RICHARD CLARNETTE

ANDREW COMLEY

WILLIAM DUNCAN

CHI KANG GOOI

PETER LEWIS

BASEL MASRI

RORY MONTGOMERY

MARK RICKMAN

MICHAEL SANDOW

CHEN TU

ARTHUR TUROW