Medicus April 2016

F R O M T H E E D I T O R

Re-tread Minister will be under pressure A ustralian Medical Association (WA) President Dr Michael Gannon sent The 2003-04 Annual Report, with its “Director General’s Overview” written harassment of all WA medical professionals was first decided on last

year, it has been an intensive job of writing the survey, collating the data, interpreting the worrying results and deciding the best way to approach what is obviously an insidious practice. More importantly, we did not want to just have a story about the survey, or even to just have a range of views about what we already knew was a problem. Rather, we wanted to start a discussion on how to find ways to fix this problem. The establishment of a Taskforce between the Health Department and the AMA (WA) is a small but a positive start. We thank all those who have put their hands up to join the Taskforce. It will not be easy work and it will, we suspect, be frustrating at times. We will be a better profession and a better society as a result of those who helped with the original idea, the questions, and those who will help plan the road ahead.

by Professor Mike Daube, reveals a total health budget of $3.1 billion, 646,000 emergency department visits and a total population of 1.94 million. The 2013-14 Annual Report, written by Professor Bryant Stokes, reports on a population of 2.6 million, a total health budget of $8.1 billion; and ED visits of just over a million a year. And not only is the department and health massively bigger than when Mr Day left it but the political pressure has also grown. Only time will tell if Mr Day’s revered “safe pair of hands” can handle the tsunami of problems currently lapping the upper levels of Dumas House. However, he can be reassured that the AMA (WA) is willing to assist him in the job. Before I end this column, mention must be made of the many hours that so many people gave to makes this edition of Medicus one of the most important we have published in years. Since the idea of a survey on sexual Thank you for your courage

a letter of congratulations to new State Health Minister, the Hon. John Day on the day he was sworn into his new ministerial position, beginning with the immortal introductory line: “Welcome back!” The AMA (WA) knows Minister Day well, and he knows the AMA, it should be said. We are confident that we will be able to work with him, and engage him in the same way that we did when he last had responsibility for the State’s biggest portfolio. Mr Day served as Health Minister from 1998 to 2001 and health is sometimes given by armchair psephologists as a reason that the Richard Court Liberal Government lost its bid for a third term. But while Mr Day might know his way around health, he will find a very different health service to the one he left a decade and a half ago and will be shocked with just how huge it has grown. It is fascinating to compare two annual reports from the Health Department.

To shine a light into the darkest corners of society is to promote change. ■

Stamp out instances which diminish our proud profession Dr Michael Gannon Continued from page 2

structures lend themselves to harassment and indeed bullying.

It is occasionally the case that the AMA’s industrial and professional

working environment, adversely affect the care we provide our patients. ■

There is an inherent power imbalance between teacher and student, between consultant and registrar/resident. Wherever this exists, there are some who will seek to take advantage of it.

responsibilities can be at odds with each other. This is not the case here, where we need to stamp out instances which diminish us collectively as a proud profession, and by producing an unsafe

Dr Michael Gannon AMA (WA) President

A P R I L 2 0 1 6 M E D I C U S 3