President’s report

Dr John Williams

There are many doctors who have had much to thank Dr Chris Moy for over the past few years – years in which the advocacy and profile of the former AMA(SA) President and AMA Vice President have influenced policies and decisions at the state and national level, and made a real difference to how we’ve practised medicine and provided care during the pandemic.

I have more for which to thank Chris and our CEO at AMA(SA), Dr Samantha Mead. It was Chris and Sam who launched the campaign that led me to the vicepresidency and now presidency of AMA(SA). They overcame my ‘why me?’ doubts and eventually persuaded me to think ‘why not me?’.

It apparently is a first, having a regional doctor at the helm. Certainly it adds a layer of complexity in having the President available to join the many meetings and media appearances that are scheduled for and pop up in the diary of that person each month. But if there is anything positive that’s emerged during the pandemic it’s the understanding that we don’t have to be physically in the room for many of the tasks common to medicine, business and social interactions, and the role of technology in enabling other ways to meet, treat and engage. Scheduling a last-minute meeting with an AMA member or rearranging an appointment with the Minister isn’t the arduous task it once was. TV journalists may not like interviewing me on Zoom but they (usually) accept it. Videos and on-screen presentations can be shared with me in my rooms in Port Lincoln as easily as if I was joining a face-to-face taskforce in Hindmarsh Square. And, of course, we all know the contribution telehealth has made to managing our time and our patients’ needs over the past three years.

Of course, I will be visiting the city, regularly and often. AMA(SA) Council and Executive Board commitments are among those that cannot always be fulfilled appropriately in online gatherings. I could not participate in the State Budget lock-up on 15 June unless I took a physical seat. And the handover of the President’s Medal from my predecessor, Dr Michelle Atchison, to me required my joining Michelle, Sam and 150 colleagues at the AMA(SA) Gala Ball on 20 May. The Ball marked my public ‘debut’, and that of our new Vice President, Associate Professor Peter Subramaniam, and we were honoured to have so many friends with us.

If the Ball was Peter’s and my ‘comingout party’, the Season is now in full swing. I was pleased to attend (in person!) the Crazy Socks 4 Docs Breakfast on 2 June and join the Chair of the Doctors in Training Committee, Dr Hayden Cain, to launch the 2022 Hospital Health Check later that morning. There is significant overlap between the two: the HHC survey demonstrates that junior doctors continue to be bullied and to bear other workrelated burdens that are unacceptable in 2023, and the result is often the type of mental health issue discussed at the breakfast. We must do better if we want bright, talented and dedicated people to be doctors and to lead the profession in the years ahead. Please read Hayden’s summary of the HHC survey results on page 20, and turn to page 23 for more Crazy Socks.

Otherwise, I continue to be involved in the development of a single employer model that achieves the AMA’s objectives for the future of general practice. It is heartening that partners in both levels of government and the local health networks can see the importance of this if we are to attract and retain junior doctors in general practice. I hope to bring an update in the next issue of medicSA

Similarly, we continue to advocate for limits on ‘scope creep’ and against any new interpretation of payroll tax legislation, both of which have immediate and longer-term implications for our capacity to care for patients and for the quality of care they can and will receive.

Finally, for now, I wish to thank Michelle for her leadership and for bringing me with her to this point; for Peter, AMA(SA) Council, the Executive Board and the AMA(SA) staff for all they have done and will do to support me; and for everything Sam has done for us during her four years as CEO.

As I said at the Gala Ball, I am determined that when you hear me speak in the next two years, you will hear your own voice. Please let me know your thought and concerns – I am your President.