Here’s an update on a few of the issues AMA Victoria is working on for members, including:

• Health service budget cuts- continued advocacy
• Media snapshot
• Equal Pay Day- examining gender equity
• Access to emergency healthcare.
   

Health service budget cuts- continued advocacy

AMAV remains resolute in its advocacy against the recent budget cuts impacting health services. Alongside ASMOF Victoria and other health unions, we have expressed our deep concerns to the Premier and relevant officials through both joint and separate communications. Additionally, we have conducted meetings with the Department of Health and the Health Minister’s Office to address these urgent issues.

The directives demanding significant savings from Victorian health services are causing severe disruptions. These include recruitment freezes, non-renewal of fixed contracts, reduced elective surgeries, and halted capital works programs. These measures are already undermining the functionality of health services, patient care, and healthcare worker morale. While we recognise the need for efficiency, we have consistently highlighted to the government the systemic issues in health service arrangements and funding mechanisms. The anticipated job losses, bed closures, and service reductions associated with the current approach will compromise the safety and well-being of both patients and healthcare workers. In a highly competitive market, it is crucial to retain our skilled healthcare workforce, and these cuts directly undermine that goal.

In summary, the current budget process is poorly designed, with predictable and undesirable impacts on the workforce. We continue to call for a rapid change of course and clearer communication to address these critical issues effectively.

MORE: Stand with us against health service budget cuts | AMAV Hub

 

Media snapshot

Doctors look interstate for work as Victorian budget squeeze hits hard (The Age)

Victorian healthcare workers are considering moving interstate for work after job losses and recruitment freezes at the state’s cash-strapped public hospitals.

Some doctors’ contracts have ended with no ongoing work offered, while others have had full-time roles converted to part-time positions, as the Victorian government’s budget crackdown forces health services to find savings.

The situation undermines government efforts to recruit tens of thousands of new healthcare workers and has prompted the Australian Medical Association (AMA) and health sector unions to warn that patient care will be compromised.

“We could have circumstances where Victoria just cannot deliver highly specialised care because the experts are interstate in Sydney or overseas,” said AMA Victorian president Dr Jill Tomlinson.

[…]

Tomlinson, a hand surgeon, said the government’s demands for huge savings from hospitals was at odds with its efforts to retain and recruit healthcare workers. “It makes absolutely no sense,” she said.

“Junior doctors who have trained for many years are now starting to look for jobs interstate or overseas. People feel gutted … it is having a highly negative impact on the morale and retention of a workforce that’s been through pretty tough times.”

Full article: Victorian doctors and healthcare workers are looking for work interstate due to budget problems (theage.com.au)

 

Junior doctor challenges AHPRA over registration fees and parental leave (AusDoc)

When third-year oncology registrar Dr Belle Sasse took maternity leave last year, she took non-practising status to cut her registration fees to around $200 a year.

This month, she had to return to work to ensure she met her training requirements. But there was a problem.

It was just two weeks before AHPRA started accepting renewals for the 2024/25 registration year, meaning she faced a full annual fee of $995 so she could be registered for just two weeks of 2023/24.

Barely a month later, she would have to renew for the next year — another $995.

[…]

She asked AHPRA about paying a pro-rata fee but was told this was not an option.

[…]

Now, she has gone to the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman, Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler and independent MP Dr Monique Ryan calling for change.

At the same time, AMA Victoria is also petitioning AHPRA to review fee structure.

The petition has received 2400 signatures and was endorsed by organisations including the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, plus every AMA except NSW.

AMA Victoria president Dr Jill Tomlinson said AHPRA had told her in June it was considering the issue, but it had not responded to her request to meet AMA Victoria representatives.

“We are disappointed that they have not, at this time, agreed to meet, and we are disappointed that their response has solely been to indicate they will review this matter,” she said.

The plastic surgeon said AHPRA’s fee policy was “inequitable and discriminatory”.

“It puts a greater fee burden on individuals who take parental leave, and it encourages individuals to take up non-practising registration and therefore takes them out of the healthcare workforce in a setting where we have … shortages across Australia,” she said.

She said AHPRA should add a separate registration category for parental leave with “a very fast turnaround when somebody indicates that they wish to return to the workforce”.

Full article (subscriber only): Junior doctor challenges AHPRA over registration fees and parental leave | AusDoc

Last week’s media snapshot: Communications and Advocacy update: 11 July 2024 | AMAV Hub

 

Equal Pay Day- examining gender equity

As Equal Pay Day approaches on August 19, AMAV is closely examining the Gender Equity Action Plans (GEAPs) of Victorian health services.

The Medical Board’s recent analysis of the latest Medical Trainee Survey revealed significant disparities: female trainees across Australia are less likely than their male counterparts to receive compensation for unrostered overtime. Moreover, female and non-binary trainees often find that such overtime seldom contributes to career advancement opportunities.

During our 2022 GEAP consultations, AMA Victoria expressed strong concerns about gender pay gaps among doctors in Victorian health services. It is crucial that we continue engaging with Victorian health services to assess their progress in measuring and addressing gender pay gaps, particularly concerning overtime.

If you work at a health service, have you reviewed your GEAP? To locate your health service’s GEAP, visit: Commission for Gender Equality in the Public Sector. Is it fit for purpose? We encourage you to share your thoughts with Senior Policy Adviser Lewis Horton at [email protected].

Further: The insidious start of the gender pay gap in medicine | Health Services Daily

 

Access to emergency healthcare

AMAV continues to receive concerning reports from members regarding the significant number of patients awaiting admission in emergency departments and hospitals' measures to manage this situation. The VAHI dashboard currently highlights extended wait times in emergency care, raising concerns about potential serious adverse patient safety events.

Recently, the Victorian Auditor-General's Office (VAGO) released a report on access to emergency healthcare. According to the report covering 2013-14 to 2022-23, Victorian health services consistently met the target of immediate attendance for all triage category 1 patients with life-threatening conditions. However, they did not achieve targets for ambulance-to-ED transfers within 40 minutes, meeting clinically recommended patient wait times, and ED length of stay.

VAGO has called for the Department of Health to:

• Investigate and address root causes behind health service performance targets not being met.
• Investigate and address potential disparities in timely access to emergency healthcare among different population groups.
• Improve public reporting on timely access to emergency healthcare.

We continue to ask the Department about their plan for targets health services consistently fail to achieve.