Local news

WEEK COMMENCING 03 OCTOBER 2009

Roxon rules out Royal Hobart funding

8 October 2009: The Government plans to spend $100 million refurbishing the existing hospital. (ABC News: Phil Long)

Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon says funding Royal Hobart Hospital improvements is not on her Government's agenda.

Showdown with states looms over health reforms

8 October 2009: A big overhaul of Australia's health system is taking shape with hospitals facing tougher competition for funding and health services outside hospitals likely to shift to federal control. The federal Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, is expected today to give the strongest indication yet that the Rudd Government is planning sweeping changes in line with recommendations from the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission.

Elliott: Health reform consultation – Wyong Hospital

8 October 2009: Minister for Ageing, Justine Elliot and Member for Dobell, Craig Thomson visited Wyong Hospital today to consult with front-line health professionals about the ways the Rudd Government can address the challenges in Australia’s health system.

Joint injection subsidy will end

8 October 2009: The federal government’s decision to terminate the Medicare rebate for synovial joint injections will cause financial and physical suffering for thousands of elderly Australians, according to the Australian Medical Association (AMA). The majority of joint injections are provided to people in their 60s and 70s who are waiting for joint replacements.

Snowdon: A million dollar home for wellbeing on the Tiwi Islands

8 October 2009

The Minister for Indigenous Health, Rural and Regional Health, and Regional Services Delivery, Warren Snowdon today officially opened the new Wurrimiyanga Wellbeing Centre at Nguiu in the Tiwi Islands, Northern Territory.

Elliott: Health reform consultation – Westmead Hospital

7 October 2009: Minister for Ageing, Justine Elliot, Member for Parramatta Julie Owens and Member for Reid, Laurie Ferguson visited Westmead Hospital today to consult with health professionals about the ways the Rudd Government can address the challenges in Australia’s health system.

Government responding to AMA and community concerns about primary care reforms, Australia

7 October 2009: AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that the AMA welcomes recent comments from Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, that indicate the Government is moving toward a primary care reform agenda more consistent with AMA policy and more in line with community expectations.

Roxon orders Facebook tobacco probe

7 October 2009: Health Minister Nicola Roxon says her department is investigating reports big tobacco companies are using social networking sites like Facebook to hook young people onto cigarettes.

Royal Perth Hospital to cut jobs

7 October 2009: The head of Royal Perth Hospital has confirmed jobs will be cut to meet its budget, but he has insisted frontline health services will not be compromised.

Snowdon: Meeting to make a difference to male health

7 October 2009: Today men, health professionals, researchers and educators gathered in Newcastle as part of the National Men’s Health Gathering 2009.

Roxon: National registration and accreditation one step closer

7 October 2009: Nationally consistent registration and accreditation for health professions is a step closer today following the introduction of the legislation that sets out the framework for a national scheme.

Roxon: Rural clinical school extension boost for Burnie

7 October 2009: The growing popularity of the University of Tasmania’s Rural Clinical School at Burnie has been recognised today with the Minister for Health and Ageing, Nicola Roxon, officially opening an extension to the school.

Elliott: Minister consults on the future of aged care

7 October 2009: Minister for Ageing, Justine Elliot today met with aged care providers, stakeholders, consumer representatives and health professionals in a National Health and Hospital Reform Commission (NHHRC) consultation session held in Sydney.

Hospital funding shake-up

8 October 2009: An overhaul of Australia's health system is taking shape, with hospitals facing tougher competition for funding and health services outside hospitals likely to shift to federal control.

Tassie's test for health reforms

8 October 2009: Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon has been asked to make Tasmania a test case for health reforms. Ms Roxon told health professionals at forums in Latrobe and Burnie yesterday that a federal takeover was one of the options being considered as part of a dramatic reform of Australia's health system.

No funding guarantee for 'valuable' Mersey

8 October 2009: The Mersey hospital had worked well under its unique Commonwealth- owned and state-run model and would continue to deliver a valuable service, federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon said yesterday. But no guarantees have been given on funding beyond 2011.

Why bowel cancer screening should target poorer patients

6 October 2009: The latest Medical Journal of Australia has published a study examining the impact of the national bowel cancer screening program. It suggests that the program may be more likely to benefit the better off. Professor Mark Harris, from the UNSW Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity,  says there is enough evidence, from this and other studies, to suggest that efforts are needed to ensure lower SES groups participate in screening and are able to access related procedures.

Australian Medical Association Congratulates Professor Elizabeth Blackburn

6 0ctober 2009: Professor Blackburn and her collaborators, Professor Carol Greider and Professor Jack Szostak, won the Prize for 'discovering how chromosomes protect themselves as cells divide - work that has inspired experimental cancer therapies, and which may offer insights into the ageing process'.

More deadly injuries in bush

7 October 2009: Australians living in the bush suffer much higher rates of fatal injuries – including taking their own lives – than those in the city, research shows. An Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report, Injury Deaths Australia 2004-05,  shows South Australia has a higher-than-average suicide rate and regional and remote areas have "worrying" rates of suicides, murders and fatal accidents.

Tobacco companies advertise through social networks

7 October 2009: Tobacco giants are targeting people through Facebook and MySpace, researchers say. A study released today warns of the "alarming sophistication" of companies that have turned to the unregulated internet to market their wares.

Young children to get help fighting depression

5 October 2009: Children aged one to seven will be the target of a new depression prevention program being funded by the Federal Government.

Croakey and conflicts of interest: what do you think?

5 October 2009: The World Association of Medical Editors notes that everyone has conflicts of interest of some sort, and that this does not, in itself, imply wrongdoing. But if these are not managed effectively, they can cause authors and editors to make decisions that, consciously or unconsciously, tend to serve their competing interests.

Mental health program going into primary schools

5 October 2009: Children are the focus of a new campaign for this year's mental health week, with the Federal Government committing more than $12 million to look after the mental health and wellbeing of Australian primary and preschool-aged children.

Rudd, Roxon: Increased financial incentives for GPs

2 October 2009: GPs in Geraldton will benefit from increased financial incentives from the Australian Government to encourage them to stay in the district, following its reclassification as 'outer regional' from 1 July 2010.

PMH set back by two years

3 October 2009: WA's sickest kids will be forced interstate for medical treatment and wait longer for emergency care because of delays to WA's new children's hospital.

Roxon tells overweight Aussies to walk

2 October 2009: Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon is imploring Australians to get active - or risk an early death from chronic diseases such as diabetes and cancer.

Men can live a lot longer

4 October 2009: I can exclusively reveal this morning that, in a first for an Australian government, Northern Territory MP Warren Snowdon will be appointed Federal Minister for Men's Health.

Health policy 'in confusion'

5 October 2009: The editor of Australia's leading medical journal has launched a stinging attack on the Federal Government, saying it is lurching from crisis to crisis in health care because it lacks good advice.

Backlash looms on smoking, drinking

3 October 2009: Australians are overwhelmingly opposed to government plans to tell them to drink and smoke less and cut down on junk food in the wake of last month's National Preventative Health Taskforce report, confidential industry research reveals.

Saying no to nanny

3 October 2009: People hate being told how they must live their lives. The voters heard the message in last month's National Preventative Health Taskforce report and it made some of them feel ill. Released by Health Minister Nicola Roxon, the report recommended tackling health problems caused by smoking, obesity, and alcohol by taxing people into behaving better. But a survey for the Spirits Industry Council found Australians unimpressed. While the council obviously has an interest in the issue the awareness of the Taskforce report it identified demonstrates people are uncomfortable with its ideas.

Calvary hospital to be sold to ACT government

2 October 2009: The ACT Government is offering $77m to the Church's Little Company of Mary Health Care for the Calvary Public Hospital in Canberra's north. LCMHC has agreed in principle to the sale, said an ABC report.

Their merry dance still opens doors and warms hearts

4 October 4, 2009

Eighteen years ago they won the City of Sydney Eisteddfod in the first year a dancer with disabilities was permitted to compete, and their photograph appeared on the front page of the Herald.

International news

UK: Scotland challenged on £11.4m cut in nursing training budget

7 October 2009: The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is challenging the Scottish government to explain a £11.4m cut to the nursing education and training budget.

UK: 'Wrong' drugs used for dementia

7 October 2009: A quarter of nurses say dementia patients on general hospital wards are being prescribed antipsychotic drugs inappropriately, a poll reveals. The survey of over 650 nurses and 450 nurse managers revealed widespread use of these powerful drugs, and sometimes purely to control "difficult" patients.

CAN: Study examines ethical dilemmas of medical tourism

7 October 2009: Medical tourism in Latin America needs to be regulated to protect consumers, according to Université de Montréal researchers. A new study published in the journal Developing World Bioethics argues that Argentinean fertility clinics are increasingly marketing themselves to international health care consumers: these clinics offer all-inclusive packages with fixed prices that feature airfare, accommodations, transfers, language interpreters and, of course, fertility treatments.

CAN: Air pollution likely to trigger appendicitis in adults

7 October 2009: Air pollution may also trigger appendicitis in adults, warns a new study.

US: Injury and hazards in home health care nursing are a growing concern

5 October 2009: Patients continue to enter home healthcare ''sicker and quicker," often with complex health problems that may require extensive nursing care. This increases the risk of needlestick injuries in home healthcare nurses. While very few studies have focused on the risks of home healthcare, it is the fastest growing healthcare sector in the U.S. In a recent study, led by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, the rate of needlestick-type injuries was 7.6 per 100 nurses.

US: Nursing school to open children’s mental-health center

6 October 2009: The College of Nursing and Health Innovation announced Monday it will establish a health center that specializes in the treatment and prevention of children’s mental health disorders. The Southwest Health Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child-Adolescent Depression and Anxiety Disorders will open Nov. 2 at the Downtown campus as part of the ASU Health Center.

INT: Better care at birth could save 600,000

6 October 2009: Improved health care for women giving birth in poor countries could save about 600,000 of the two million babies who die every year, according to a study released on Tuesday.

UK: Should doctors and nurses screen for domestic violence? UK researchers say no

6 October 2009: UK researchers, published in the British Medical Journal asked the question about whether health professionals should screen for domestic violence. Screening is compulsory, for example in parts of the US. Their conclusion was that doctors and nurses should not screen.

US: E-medical data valuable to health industry

1 October 2009: If the healthcare industry can overcome challenges in unlocking data in electronic medical records, those databases could become their most valuable assets. More than three-quarters of healthcare executives believe their industry's most valuable asset is going to be information contained in electronic medical records, according a report issued Thursday by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

US: Nation's leading experts on substance abuse outline new research agenda

2 October 2009: With substance abuse now accounting for one in 14 hospital admissions and generating billions in health care costs, leading scientists held a briefing on Capitol Hill today to present the evidence that we already have and the evidence we need in treating and preventing the use and abuse of alcohol, drugs and tobacco.

UK: Degree-level registration for nursing is DoH priority

5 October 2009: Ensuring the transition to degree-level registration for nursing is one of 10 hot topics identified for further investigation by the prime minister's nursing and midwifery commission.

UK: Healthcare Republic

October 2009: Healthcare Republic is dedicated to supporting all healthcare professionals in their career development and providing information which assists in the improvement of quality of care. We recognise that it can often be difficult and time-consuming to source the most up-to-date information, particularly with the myriad of websites available. Healthcare Republic does the work for you, whether you want the latest news or guidelines, receive best practice guidance on diagnosis and treatment, or simply getting some ideas for your next dinner party. All issues of GP newspaper, Independent Nurse and the MIMS Specialist Journals (Dermatology, Women's Health, and Oncology and Palliative Care) are archived online. One registration gives you access to these articles and all of the information within MIMS online (see below).

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