Local news

WEEK COMMENCING 05 SEPTEMBER 2009

Roxon: World Suicide Prevention Day

10 September 2009: Today is World Suicide Prevention Day, a day that is about bringing together governments, communities and individuals to raise awareness and reducing the incidence of suicide in Australia.

Snowdon: National Indigenous Health Equality Council meets with Minister Snowdon

10 September 2009: The importance of the National Indigenous Health Equality Council (NIHEC) was reiterated today with the attendance of Warren Snowdon, Minister for Indigenous Health, Rural and Regional Health and Regional Services Delivery, at their meeting in Canberra. The Council, drawing on its broad expertise, provides the government with evidence-based advice to close the gap in health between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

Government 'not seeking election trigger'

10 September 2009: The Federal Government says it's not looking to an early election even though the Senate has rejected Labor's plan to wind back the private health insurance rebate. The Government failed to win upper house support yesterday for legislation aimed at means-testing the popular 30 per cent rebate.

Government wants crackdown on doctors' freebies

10 September 2009: The Federal Government is demanding major changes to the way drug and medical companies sell the benefits of their products to doctors.

Call for parental option in risk cases

10 September 2009: A child-protection expert has floated the idea of refining mandatory reporting laws, which would allow parents of children at risk of harm to approach doctors for help without fear of being reported to authorities.

ANF Welcomes NHMRC Appointments, Australia

9 September 2009: The ANF today welcomed the appointment of Australia's chief nurse, Rosemary Bryant, to the new National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) for 2009-2012.

NSW emergency departments 'understaffed'

9 September 2009: Waiting times across NSW hospital emergency departments are falling below the national standard because of staffing cuts, the opposition says. Opposition health spokeswoman Jillian Skinner said all but four of the state's hospital emergency departments fell short of Australian waiting-time standards, with Nepean Hospital falling well below par.

Fertility industry backs IVF cap overhaul

9 September 2009: The Federal Government has won industry support for its overhaul of publicly funded IVF treatment, after it announced further changes to how it will work. Health Minister Nicola Roxon has released proposed new Medicare funding caps for aspects of the fertility treatment.

Roxon: Libs vote down health reform measure

9 September 2009: Today the Opposition showed their disinterest in fiscal responsibility and health reform by voting down the proposed means testing of the Private Health insurance rebates. This measure, delivering $1.9 billion over four years, was one of the Government's most important health savings measures from this year's budget.

Roxon: $3.2M boost for palliative and geriatric care at Calvary

9 September 2009: The Minister for Health and Ageing, Nicola Roxon, today visited Calvary Hospital which has benefited from $3.2 million to boost services – $1.276 million for psychogeriatric care and $1.955 million over four years to boost palliative care services at the Hospital.

6 cups a day keeps the doctor awake

8 September 2009: Doctors are up in arms over official Queensland Health Department guidelines which urge weary medics to drink six cups of coffee a day to fight off fatigue. Part of Queensland Health's 102-page fatigue management strategy recommends 400 milligrams of caffeine to keep doctors awake on the job. That is the equivalent of five or six cups of coffee.

Nurse suspended after anti-gay tirade

8 September 2009: A Sunshine Coast male nurse who caused outrage by calling for "a world free of homosexuals" has had his registration suspended. A Queensland Nursing Council spokeswoman told brisbanetimes.com.au Matthew George Price's licence would be suspended "until he is deemed fit and competent for practice".

'Mother of all rallies' for home birth

8 September 2009: The official decision to withhold medical insurance for home births has come under fire as an unjustified step not supported by international evidence, a Liberal MP and former obstetrician, Andrew Laming, says.

Tebbutt prepared to take on Health portfolio

7 September 2009: Deputy NSW Premier Carmel Tebbutt says she is happy to serve in any role the Premier asks her to. (AAP: Per Groth: file photo). The New South Wales Deputy Premier Carmel Tebbutt says she would take on the Health Portfolio if she was asked to.

Carmel Tebbutt in health strengthens Left

7 September 2009: NSW Deputy Premier Carmel Tebbutt is poised to become the new health minister, reinforcing the unprecedented influence of the Left faction inside the Labor government.

Government sets up preventative health agency

6 September 2009: The Federal Government is establishing a new preventative health agency to combat obesity, smoking and lifestyle diseases. The agency will oversee public health campaigns and research and provide policy advice on preventable illnesses like diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.

Aussie would swallow junk food tax

6 September 2009: Most Australians support a tax on junk food to curb the country's obesity epidemic. As the Federal Government considers reforms across the health sector, a survey has found 64 per cent of adults would accept price rises on foods high in fat and sugar. But a consumer behaviour expert warned it might take taxes of up to 50 per cent to be effective.

A tax hike might cure what common sense cannot

6 September 2009: If cigarettes cost $20 a pack - or up to $1 a smoke - would you buy them? Last week the Federal Government's preventive health taskforce recommended the measure, one of a range of policies designed to make Australia the healthiest country in the world by 2020. The taskforce looked at how Government policies could be used to improve the nation's self-destructive lifestyle habits - caused by smoking, excessive drinking and obesity. Together they cost the healthcare system almost $6 billion a year; the human cost is harder to calculate.

Hospital budget cuts spark superbug fears

5 September 2009: WA hospitals will lay off up to 10 per cent of their staff to meet budget cuts, in a move doctors and government insiders say will devastate health services. Sources say the Barnett government cuts could cause super-bug outbreaks because cleaning staff were likely to be among those laid off.

Government targets obesity, booze

6 September 2009: AUSTRALIANS will be told to drink and smoke less and consume less junk food by a new preventive health watchdog that will begin monitoring the health system within months. But it is also likely that some tougher policy interventions recommended by the high-profile preventive health taskforce, such as junk-food taxes and food labelling on the front of restaurant menus, will not be adopted.

Midwives get partial reprieve

5 September 2009: Home births have been given a reprieve by federal and state health ministers, who have agreed to exempt them from measures that would have effectively outlawed midwives operating outside hospitals.

HIV-positive and they don't know it

4 September 2009: One in five gay men who are HIV-positive is unaware they have the infection, research suggests. The study run by the Burnet Institute was the first of its kind in Australia, and aimed to get a clearer idea of the prevalence of HIV in the gay community.

Homebirth midwives get indemnity exemption

4 September 2009: Midwives who provide homebirths have been given a reprieve that will allow them to practise legally until 2012. Under a new national registration scheme for doctors and nurses, homebirth midwives would not have been able to gain registration because they do not have indemnity insurance.

Consistent abortion laws not on Government agenda, says Nicola Roxon

4 September 2009: The Federal Government is not considering implementing nationally consistent abortion laws, Health Minister Nicola Roxon says. The Australian Greens this week urged Ms Roxon to convene an emergency meeting of the nation's attorneys-general and health ministers to resolve what they say are inconsistent laws governing abortion.

 

Greens write to Roxon, urging federal role in resolving dangerous inconsistency around abortion legality

4 September 2009: Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has written to federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon, urging her to convene an emergency meeting with state and territory health ministers and attorneys-general to resolve the inconsistency around Australia’s abortion laws.

Midwives get costly reprieve for home births

5 September 2009: Home births have been given a reprieve by federal and state health ministers, who have agreed to exempt them from measures that in effect would have outlawed midwives operating outside hospital.

MICA paramedics detail procedures to go

4 September 2009: Mobile Intensive Care (MICA) paramedics have outlined specialist procedures they will no longer be able to perform if a mass resignation goes ahead next week.

Community central to new mental health plan

4 September 2009: More mental health patients will be treated in the community or at home under a new ACT Government plan. The five year mental health plan emphasises flexibility when treating patients in crisis situations, such as home treatment or the use of a day clinic rather than hospitalisation.

Hunter hospitals get swine flu respite

4 September 2009: Hunter New England Health says the strain on the region's acute-care hospitals from the swine flu pandemic has eased considerably in the past two weeks.

Far north dengue epidemic 'over'

4 September 2009: Queensland Health says far north Queensland's dengue fever epidemic will officially be declared over today.

Too many doctors treat themselves, study finds

4 September 2009: Many doctors do not have a GP of their own to go to, a survey has found. The study finding will be considered by doctors at a medical conference in Adelaide today. Joe Hooper from the Medical Board says the survey done in two years ago found some doctors were treating themselves for conditions such as depression and fewer than half went to another doctor.

Nicola Roxon's deal to save IVF rebates

4 September 2009: IVF couples have forced Canberra to redesign $450 million in budget cuts that they feared would threaten their chances of parenthood. Last night, a spokeswoman for federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon revealed that controversial new caps imposed for IVF claims and the treatments covered under Medicare would be revised in a compromise deal.

Right to reject medical care upheld

4 September 2009: Doctors and paramedics must withhold life-saving medical care if a patient has previously made a ''living will'' that clearly states they do not want a specific treatment, such as kidney dialysis or a blood transfusion.

Elderly patient left on bedpan for days

4 September 2009: An elderly man is being treated for a life-threatening infection after he was allegedly left on a bedpan for as much as five days in a Sydney hospital, the Herald has learnt.

Schools' danger drinks alert

4 September 2009: Tasmanian teachers will be briefed on the dangers of caffeine-fuelled energy drinks that are being consumed with gusto by teenagers. Medical experts warn the drinks can be addictive and can cause diarrhoea, hyperactivity, dizziness, nausea and an increased heart rate.

International news

US: Family sue nursing home after fatal bedsore horror takes matriarch's life

9 September 2009: Verda Henry, a 73-year-old life-long Bronx resident, entered aWestchester County nursing home in 2005 after she fell and injured her arm, thinking she would receive therapy and be home in a month. Two years later, after repeated denied requests to go home, the grandmother of 15 died in the New Rochelle nursing home, partially because of a horrific, infected bedsore, according to her family and court records.

US: Internists' new paper identifies and analyzes key drivers of health care costs

A policy paper that identifies and analyzes the key drivers of health care costs was released today by the American College of Physicians (ACP). Controlling Health Care Costs While Promoting the Best Possible Health Outcomes provides nearly four dozen recommendations to achieve better quality care to more people. ACP is particularly concerned that the high cost of health care in the United States is not correlated with high quality and efficiency in the delivery of services or improved health outcomes.

US: 'Nurse In' Staged In Lincoln Square

4 September 2009: About three dozen women staged a "nurse in" this afternoon in a public plaza in Chicago's Lincoln Square. The breastfeeding protest was to counter the negative comments Lauren Trost says she received from another woman while she was nursing her 7-month-old son earlier this summer.

US/UK: Unhealthy differences

4 September 2009: The United States’ acrimonious healthcare debate is having almost as much impact across the Atlantic, where the National Health Service has become a rallying point for both major parties.

US: Large majority of seniors fear negative impact on care if Congress slashes Medicare benefits

4 September 2009: As Congress prepares to reconvene next week following an August recess replete with wide-ranging local discussion of how to fund health care reform, new polling finds both seniors and the public at large are strongly opposed to slashing Medicare-funded nursing home care to pay for the plan. Meanwhile, at events in Florida and Pennsylvania - states with large concentrations of Medicare beneficiaries - seniors and caregivers are urging their respective state congressional delegations to help preserve, protect and defend quality nursing home care as the legislative debate resumes Tuesday on Capitol Hill.

US: Researchers claim AIDS vaccine breakthrough

4 September 2009: US researchers have discovered two powerful new antibodies which could hold the key to achieving a viable AIDS vaccine, according to a study published in the journal Science. The antibodies are produced naturally by a minority of people infected with HIV and are able to neutralise a high percentage of the many types of the virus currently in circulation worldwide.

GERMANY: It pays to quit smoking before surgery

3 September 2009: People who start nicotine replacement therapy at least four weeks before surgery can halve their risk of poor wound healing. This is what the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) concludes in information published on informedhealthonline.org today.

US: School nurses understaffed, overwhelmed

2 September 2009: It's the beginning of a new school day in Ardmore, Oklahoma. But for school nurse Renita Dotson it's like every other day: busy. Dotson is the only full-time nurse in a district with more than 3,000 students as CBS News Correspondent Don Teague reports.