Medicus April 2016

A M A I N T H E M E D I A

AMA IN THE MEDIA

LET’S GIVE THE BUSH A FIGHTING CHANCE West Australians living in the regions can expect their lives to be cut short by as much as 40 years compared with those in Perth’s most privileged suburbs. AMA (WA) President Dr Michael Gannon said there was a “significant maldistribution of healthcare workers in remote and regional Australia that needs to be addressed.” “We know that many rural and regional areas face enormous challenges in attracting GPs, which in turn raises serious implications for rural residents trying to access health care,” Dr Gannon said. “It is not only the number of GPs in our state, but the distribution of other medical professionals as well.” An acute psychiatric facility for teenagers fell into a Code Yellow alert this week as stretched staff ran two operations in one building to try to stem the crisis before the long weekend. AMA (WA) President Dr Michael Gannon believed an incident with a patient at Bentley Hospital led to the sudden leave and resignations. The Sunday Times, 3 April 2016 CRISIS IN TEEN MENTAL FACILITY

remained about the hospitals capacity to deal with future demand. The West Australian, 22 March 2016 CASH BOOST PLEA AS ER NUMBERS INCREASE Doctors say Perth’s emergency departments are under unprecedented pressure and need an urgent funding boost, with a new analysis revealing almost 25,000 more patients last year than in the previous 12 months. The AMA (WA) data, compiled for its submission to the upcoming State Budget found emergency departments saw more than 566,000 patients last year – almost 37,000 more than in 2012. AMA (WA) President Dr Michael Gannon said the numbers laid bare the pressure on an already stretched system, which faced cuts to staff and funding. “This is no cream on top medicine. Those presentations at emergency departments are the front line…These are people accessing health care and they are often very sick,” he said. Dr Gannon said doctors were also seeing patients with more complex conditions driven by an ageing population, high rates of overweight people and obesity, and chronic health problems. The West Australian, 29 March 2016

He said the fact it triggered a Code Yellow emergency highlighted how fragile the mental health system had become. “It’s a difficult area for nurses and doctors,” Dr Gannon said. “There’s a constant drain on staff and it’s an incredibly difficult area full of sad stories.” He said the system was so tight it took only a “little hiccup and the closed sign goes up.” “Ask any GP how hard it is to get an acute mental health bed for a patient and they’ll tell you the system is at breaking point,” Dr Gannon said. KIDS’ HOSPITAL FACES SECOND OPEN DELAY Health Minister Dr Kim Hames has left open the possibility that the new Perth Children’s Hospital will not be open by the end of this year – more than 12 months after it was initially planned. Amid rumours the opening date had slipped for the second time in four months, Dr Hames said there could be “no shortcuts” and the hospital would be operational only when it was ready. AMA (WA) President Dr Michael Gannon said it was appropriate the Government got the opening right but doubts The West Australian, 26 March 2016

however, there were detractors who once again expressed their opposition to the supposed ‘medicalisation’ of child birth. Other popular posts included Dr Gannon’s criticism of cuts to palliative services in the South West, news that the flu vaccine cuts the risk of stillborn births, and dealing with bigotry from patients. The three posts collectively reached over 8,000 people. ■

The AMA (WA)’s recent media comments have reached tens of thousands of West Australians via Facebook over the past month. One Facebook post in particular received a huge amount of attention – Dr Gannon’s comments on the selfishness of mothers who decide to proceed with homebirths despite being considered ‘high risk’. Reaching well over 7,000 people, Dr Gannon’s comments were highly supported,

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