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Local news
WEEK COMMENCING 24 OCTOBER 2009
Roxon eyes solution to rebate stand-off
29 October 2009: The spirit of pioneering eye surgeon Fred Hollows has been invoked with news a service he pioneered will end because of a Federal Government decision. The Government is deciding how to salvage a Medicare rebate for cataract surgery after its move to halve the $600 payment was struck down in the Senate.
Bundy's diagnosis: enough GPs
29 October 2009: Two medical projects slated for the Bundaberg area have been left languishing in the waiting room because government figures indicate there are already enough general practitioners in the region.
How much a human life?
29 October 2009: Australia needs community input to determine the value of a human life, Medicines Australia says. In an interview with The Advertiser yesterday, Medicines Australia chairman Will Delaat told of the need for a debate on how much money taxpayers should fork out for new and increasingly expensive medicines, some of which give patients only a few more months to live.
Immunisation records extend to teenagers
28 October 2009: Childhood record history in the national immunisation register has been extended to include children up to the age of 14, the government has announced.
Govt tries to reassure cataract patients
28 October 2009: Health Minister Nicola Roxon has promised patients needing cataract surgery won't be left to pick up the entire bill, after the Senate voted down Labor's plan to halve the relevant Medicare rebate.
Hansard: Nicola Roxon
27 October 2009: I thank the member for Deakin for his question. He has always taken a keen interest in health issues and particularly the health reform agenda that the government is undertaking. The Rudd government has been committed, from its first days in office, to tackling Australia’s chronic disease epidemic.
NSW Medical Physics Showcase
Thursday 19 November 2009: Healthcare in Australia and around the world must change. It is too expensive, it is horrendously labour intensive and access is far from equitable. Whereas new technology has improved health, it has done nothing to reduce overall cost – quite the opposite – healthcare expenditure is rising alarmingly as a percentage of GDP. Effective new medical products and therapies tend to be expensive and drive up demand. If our future health systems are going keep us healthy at a reasonable cost then we must find new delivery models.
Speakers will be invited from research, industry and government to provide their perspectives on this challenge, industry trends, new developments in the lab/clinic, as well as some local commercial successes. Student Research Poster competition with $1000 first prize – be entertained by the ever popular “speed sell” session where each student promotes their research – in 60 seconds!!
Opposition delays 'nanny state' health agency
27 October 2009
The Government's campaign against unhealthy living has hit a snag, with the Opposition moving to block the immediate creation of the planned National Preventive Health Agency. The agency, which critics say would promote a ''nanny state'', would lead campaigns against obesity, alcohol abuse and smoking.
Diabetes 2 to be high on agenda by 2050
27 October 2009
One in seven Australians will suffer from Type 2 diabetes by 2050, costing the nation more than $14 billion each year, new research reveals. As Australia battles a growing obesity crisis, the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes will soar, with 7.2 per cent of adults expected to be diagnosed with the disease by mid-century. That's twice current levels.
Roxon slams Liberals over health agency delay
27 October 2009
The Federal Government says the Opposition is not interested in saving thousands of lives because it is trying to hold up a preventative health agency. The Opposition has moved a motion to delay consideration of the legislation to set up the agency until after the Government announces its response to the preventative health taskforce report.
Roxon: Working together for a healthier nation
26 October 2009
The Minister for Health and Ageing, Nicola Roxon, today met with key representatives in the sport, food, alcohol, business and public health sectors to discuss the recommendations of three major health reform reports: the National Preventative Health Strategy, the Health and Hospitals Reform Commission's Report, and the draft National Primary Health Care Strategy.
Australia imposes sanctions on Victorian nursing home
26 October 2009
The Australian Government last night imposed sanctions on Doutta Galla Aged Care Services Ltd, the approved provider of Lynch’s Bridge Aged Facility in the Melbourne suburb of Kensington.
Australia highlights consumers role in health care reform
26 October 2009
The focus of health reform was today on patients as the Minister for Health and Ageing, Nicola Roxon, hosted the first consumer-specific consultation in partnership with the Consumers’ Health Forum. The consultation highlighted the central role of consumers in Australia’s health care system and in the Government’s health reform agenda.
Police unprepared to deal with mentally ill
26 October 2009
Police forces around Australia are failing to equip officers with the skills to deal with mentally ill people putting both the mentally ill and police at risk, an investigation by the ABC's Four Corners has found.
GP plan 'will hurt patients'
25 October 2009
Patients will lose the right to choose their GP, and the most sick and vulnerable Australians will find it harder to get medical care if sweeping changes are adopted, doctors and patient groups have warned.
Fewer new nurses find jobs in hospitals
24 October 2009: Only 1450 newly-qualified nurses have won jobs with NSW Health in its first round of offers this year - barely half the 2683 who applied and down 12 per cent on 2008 - in a development likely to force more of the highly trained graduates into the private sector. The chief executive of the College of Nursing, Tracey Osmond, said the financial crisis had meant that older nurses were not retiring from the profession in the numbers anticipated a decade ago.
Mixed diagnosis for breast screening
26 October 2009: Women whose lives have been saved by a mammogram applaud the national program. But it has detractors, writes Julie Robotham. The rationale for screening is increasingly criticised by sceptical statisticians who say it finds too many tumours that, while technically cancer, are essentially benign.
Breakthrough drugs taking longer to be approved
26 October 2009: The Federal Government is reaping a windfall of $3 billion in savings from cheaper prescription drugs but is taking longer to introduce the latest in breakthrough drugs, an industry analysis has found.
'Stupid' beef import plan faces inquiry
26 October 2009: A senate inquiry will scrutinise a government decision to relax import restrictions on beef, amid fears it will threaten Australia's status as a BSE-free country.
Canberra looks at GP bonus plan
26 October 2009: General practitioners will get tens of thousands of dollars in bonus payments for meeting performance benchmarks, under a British-style scheme the Federal Government is considering. But a visiting expert familiar with Britain's £6 billion ($10.6 billion) Quality of Outcomes Framework has warned such a scheme risks ending up as ''money for old rope'' - doctors rewarded for just doing their job.
Scan policy linked to cancer
25 October 2009: Patients face increased cancer risks because the Federal Government restricts the use of safer scans, the Australian Medical Association says. The Government will not pay a Medicare rebate on magnetic resonance images better known as MRIs requested by GPs even though they are far safer than CT scans.
International news
Implications of marked weight gain associated with atypical antipsychotic medications in children and adolescents
28 October 2009: The findings reported by Correll and colleagues1 in this issue of JAMA are both timely and sobering. Prior treatment-naive youth (N = 272), aged 4 to 19 years, gained substantial weight during a 12-week period of clinician's choice treatment with atypical antipsychotic medications aripiprazole, olanzapine, quetiapine, or risperidone.
US: Study: depression can lead to inflated reports of physical symptoms
28 October 2009: New research shows people who feel depressed tend to recall having more physical symptoms than they actually experienced. The study indicates that depression -- not neuroticism -- is the cause of such over-reporting.
US: Student Resources: Health Assessment Materials
17 October 2009: The following are an assortment of free materials on the Internet I have compiled over the years. These excellent materials will be of great assistance to you in nursing school, as you learn to perform accurate head-to-toe assessments.
UK: Health staff told to 'set example' for swine flu jab
26 October 2009
Some health chiefs are asking hospital consultants to act as role models amid concerns that many staff will refuse to have the jab. Government health chiefs say they have a "duty of care" to be immunised despite recent polls showing that nearly half of GPs and nurses will refuse.
UK: NHS staff urged to have swine flu vaccine as polls reveal half may refuse to be immunised
26 October 2009
Half of NHS workers are considering not having the swine flu vaccine despite dolling it out to patients. Nurses and doctors have been urged to set an example to patients by having themselves vaccinated against swine flu. The pleas come following concerns that many NHS staff plan to turn down the chance of a free jab over safety worries and the belief that the virus is so mild.
Read more
INT: Top iPhone apps for health pros, patients
26 October 2009
Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch aren't just for entertainment and productivity. Healthcare pros can use them to improve treatment for their patients, and individuals can use them to get healthy and stay healthy. The App Store has an entire category devoted to Healthcare & Fitness, with myriad entries. We've highlighted apps to help healthcare pros with diagnosis and treatment, and to help individuals with diet, exercise, weight loss, diabetes, and other health issues.
PHILIPPIINES: Closure of failing nursing schools
26 October 2009
The recruitment sector on Monday backed the planned closure of non-performing nursing schools convinced that this contributed much to the unemployment of half a million nurses in the country.
US: New research shows that insurer contracting policies threaten success of health care reform
26 October 2009
At a time when improving access to primary care is crucial, less than half of managed care insurers routinely recognize nurse practitioners as primary care providers. A study conducted by National Nursing Centers Consortium (NNCC) has found that nearly half (48%) of all major managed-care organizations in the United States do not credential or contract with nurse practitioners as primary care providers.
US: UB Study Explores How Women Make Decisions About Breast Cancer Surgery
26 October 2009
For women just diagnosed with breast cancer, one of the important decisions confronting them is whether to have a lumpectomy or mastectomy. A diagnosis of breast cancer will affect one in every eight women in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society, causing them to have to decide quickly about treatment.
UK: Cheap drink costs us dear
24 October 2009: The change to 24-hour licensing has not created the promised 'cafe culture'. It has been Alcohol Awareness week. Not that you'd know it unless, as per usual, you were made all too aware of alcohol by strolling through a vomit-spattered town centre, passing a barful of celebrating bankers in the City, or waiting for a night bus amid the dismal caterwauling of underage soaks.
UK: 'Assisted self-harming' offered in UK hospitals
25 October 2009: Patients who self-harm are being allowed to cut themselves in hospitals and mental health units as part of a ground-breaking approach to help them hurt themselves more safely.
US: Some safety lessons from US health care
24 October 2009: The United States health system often cops a bad press, but it has some lessons for us when it comes to reporting on quality, says our correspondent in Washington, Dr Lesley Russell.This year the [quality] results are disappointing, as they show that for the third year in a row, the quality of US health care has not improved across many key measures of clinical quality.
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