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WEEK COMMENCING 24 JULY 2010

E-health records given the thumbs up

30 July 2010: Australians favour the idea of an electronic health record – with a significant minority even prepared to pay for it – according to a survey of 1200 people. But patients and doctors are divided over how much control individuals should have over the contents of the record and whether they should be able to add to it themselves.

Calls for urgent aged care reforms

30 July2010: The aged care industry is being crippled by a funding crisis and is in need of urgent reform to prevent a looming beds shortage, an industry body says. The Aged Care Association Australia (ACAA) has called for sweeping changes identified in a report as being necessary to prop up the "crucially unsustainable" sector. ACAA has delivered the document, entitled Health Reform – The Aged Care Chapter, to Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Minister for Ageing Justine Elliot, warning the industry is in "serious jeopardy".

Calling obese Australians 'fat' won't help them lose weight, say experts

30 July 2010: Thesuggestion that doctors should stop mincing their words by telling obese Australians they are "fat" has been criticised by leading doctors and academics. Harry Hemley, Victorian president of the Australian Medical Association was the lone voice in the debate, saying that calling some overweight and obese people fat could be the nudge they needed to start losing weight, The Herald Sun reported.

Assault an ambo and land in prison

30 July 2010: Abuse or threaten a paramedic and you could face up to five years in jail under laws that come into effect today. Any person who obstructs an ambulance officer while they are on duty is now in danger of being charged.

Jayant Patel's boss Dr Darren Keating ignored complaints

29 July 2010: Lives would have been saved at Bundaberg Base Hospital if the Queensland Health bureaucrat who supervised Dr Jayant Patel had properly probed complaints by medical staff, secret health tribunal documents say. The Courier-Mail can reveal for the first time the details of evidence presented in a Health Practitioners Tribunal that led to Dr Darren Keating, Patel's boss, being banned from ever working as a senior medical administrator in public or private hospitals.

91% of Australians want all their healthcare data stored in one place, in an electronic health record

29 July 2010: CSC today launched the results of an independent research project on Australians’ views of electronic health (e-health) records. CSC’s report, A Rising Tide of Expectations, found consumers are ready and waiting for the government to deliver an individual e-health record – what they see as a basic Australian right. CSC is a global leader in providing technology-enabled solutions and services through three primary lines of business.

Tackle climate change now: AMA

29 July 2010: Public health problems will increase unless global governments take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Australia's peak medical body says. Australian Medical Association (AMA) president Andrew Pesce has called on the federal government to set up a national climate change and health strategy.

Older Australians urged to get vaccine

29 July 2010: Up to 300,000 seniors risk getting a potentially fatal lung disease if they don't get follow up injections this year, a health group says. About 800,000 Australians received the first vaccination for pneumococcal disease in 2005. But almost a third of those have failed to get the second dose, The Australian Lung Foundation said on Thursday. Once infected, pneumococcal disease can cause pneumonia, meningitis, septicaemia, middle ear and sinus infections.

Psychiatry Update: Newsletter

29 July 2010

1. •Antidepressant package inserts criticised
   

2. •HAMD cut-off score for remission in MDD too high
   

3. •High depression during internships mediated by genetics
   

4. •Music and beta brain-wave activity in psychosis
   

5. •Mental health investments welcome, but where is the plan?
   

Comment: Band-Aid for broken mental health system

29 July 2010: The PM's policy is the same tired old approach that's failed for decades. On taking office, Julia Gillard was quick to announce the government had "lost its way" on several issues. We in the mental health community were excited about the prospect of her leadership - as the daughter of a psychiatric nurse and as a former shadow minister for health, she has a strong background on the issue.

GetUp! calls for urgent reform to mental health policy

29 July 2010: A candlelight vigil in Melbourne tonight will show people want action on mental health, the activist group GetUp! says, following widespread disappointment with the government's $277 million plan. In an email to its 82,000 Melbourne members last night, the group said Health Minister Nicola Roxon ''thinks she can get away without a full mental health policy this election – but we can't let that happen''.

Friends alter health as much as cigarettes

29 July 2010: Friends can save your life: it's true. Strong relationships with friends, family and colleagues can decrease your risk of death by up to 50 per cent. In comparison, low social interaction is just as detrimental to a person's health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day or being an alcoholic, and twice as harmful as being obese.

Sociability good for health

28 July 2010: A life of booze, fags and slothfulness may be enough to earn your doctor's disapproval, but there is one last hope: a repeat prescription of mates and good conversation. A circle of close friends and strong family ties can boost a person's health more than exercise, losing weight or quitting cigarettes and alcohol, psychologists say.

Call obese people fat to make it clear they need to lose weight, says minister

29 July 2010: Doctors should call people "fat" rather than "obese" to make it clear that they needed to lose weight, a British health minister said on Wednesday.

Greens push for universal dental care

29 July 2010: The Australian Greens will push for universal dental care when parliament resumes after the next federal election. Greens leader Bob Brown said increased funding for dental health would help about 500,000 Australians, languishing on waiting lists, get the treatment they needed.

Call to expand bowel cancer screening

29 July 2010: Political parties should commit to expanding bowel cancer screening and other preventative measures to save more lives, the Cancer Council says. Cancer Council chief executive Ian Olver said screening all Australians aged 50 and above for bowel cancer every two years would save lives and have economic benefits for Australia.

Failure of private plan unsurprising: doctors

29 July 2010: Doctors have called on the WA State Government to increase resources for public hospitals so they can complete more elective surgery cases. The Health Minister Kim Hames yesterday conceded his plan to cut elective surgery waiting lists by treating public patients in private hospitals had failed.

Obesity could be cactus after plant extract that curbs appetite discovered

29 July 2010: Victoria University is testing the plant's role in suppressing the hunger of 40 overweight people. Nutritional therapist Michael Mathai, who is conducting the three-month trial, said yesterday the cactus had been used by Indians during subcontinental famines for centuries. While it is on sale in several countries, including Australia, there has been little scientific study of the plant's impact on appetite.

New money for thalidomide victims

29 July 2010: Victims of thalidomide have reached a historic agreement for more compensation because of their longer than expected lifespans. They are collectively gaining up to $3 million annually from manufacturer Diageo Australia.

Eating for two myth is making pregnant women fat

28 July 2010: Rates of obesity among pregnant women are at an epidemic level, exacerbated by poor awareness of the dangers and myths such as "eating for two", health experts say. Almost one in six women are obese at the start of pregnancy, according to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice), the British NHS watchdog for best practice, which is publishing guidance on weight management before, during and after pregnancy.

Doting on baby helps them cope

28 July 2010: Babies whose mothers shower them with affection are better at coping with stress when they get older, research shows. Nurturing and warmth in early life had "long-lasting positive effects on mental health well into adulthood". The study authors, based in the US, published their findings yesterday in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Help call for breastfeeding mothers

28 July 2010: Breastfeeding advocates have called for greater workplace support of new mothers. The call is based on a study found that babies who are prematurely weaned from breast milk have a greater chance of developing chronic disease later in life. The risk of chronic disease, such as diabetes, obesity, asthma, coeliac disease and childhood cancer, was 30 to 200 per cent higher in babies who were not breastfed, researchers at the Australian National University found.

Campbelltown Hospital gets MRI machine at last

28 July 2010: Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon visited Campbelltown Hospital on Thursday to announce $3 million for an MRI machine. She also handed over $21,000 for equipment that will include a medical ventilator, a bladder scanner and trauma beds as well as the 20 new acute beds announced last month.

Waiting list plan failed: Hames

28 July 2010: The WA Health Minister has conceded his plan to cut elective surgery waiting lists by treating public patients in private hospitals has failed. Earlier this year, the State Government announced a major shake up of its management of elective surgery waiting lists. It proposed to pay for public patients who had been waiting too long to have the surgery in private hospitals. The Health Minister, Kim Hames, has conceded that the system did not work.

Labor promises more hospital beds in SA

28 July 2010: Labor will provide 100 more beds for rehabilitation and mental health patients in South Australia, Health Minister Nicola Roxon says. Campaigning in Adelaide on Wednesday Ms Roxon said 20 rehab beds would be provided in a new state-of-the-art centre at the Repatriation General Hospital. Another 80 beds would be provided for mental health patients across the state.

New super clinic for SA

28 July 2010: The Labor government has pledged to provide $7 million to build a new GP super clinic at Mt Barker, in the Adelaide Hills. Health Minister Nicola Roxon said on Wednesday the service would take the pressure off local hospitals. It would offer a range of services including general practice, visiting specialists, mental health, early childhood intervention, allied health professionals, medical education and pathology.

ALP's mental health plans under attack

28 July 2010: Julia Gillard has sought to counter criticisms of Labor's record on mental health with a promise for a $277 million package for suicide prevention and a commitment to make mental illness a second-term priority if re-elected. But her funding commitment, dwarfed by the Coalition pledge of $1.5 billion for mental health, drew appeals for more from mental health experts and criticism from the Woollahra mayor, Andrew Petrie, who has tried repeatedly to get funding to make The Gap, Sydney's notorious suicide spot, safer.

Mendoza criticises govt on mental health

28 July 2010: Labor's latest mental health funding commitment has been spread too thin, the federal government's former chief adviser on the issue says. John Mendoza, who quit the National Advisory Council on Mental Health in June because of the government's lack of vision, said the money was spread across too many areas.

Breastfeeding link to chronic illness

28 July 2010: Generations of Australians are at increased risk of chronic illness because they were weaned off breastfeeding too early, new research reveals. Australian National University scientists set out to assess the risk of chronic illness when infants are prematurely weaned off breast milk. They found that one in 10 people are in danger of major diseases later in life because they were not breast-fed for a minimum six months. Breastfeeding has been proven to reduce the long-term risk of chronic disease.

Comment: Mental health reforms a suitable case for treatment

28 July 2010: A staple of modern mental health treatment is cognitive behavioural therapy. This is a "talking cure" that encourages patients to spot patterns of thought that are causing them problems, and change them. The Gillard government needs a session of CBT, because it seems hell-bent on spreading the shortcomings of its wider health reform program into mental health. Where's the vision, what's the plan, how will it all knit together, and what's so different to what's happening already?

'Scattergun approach' condemned by mental health experts

28 July 2010: Mental experts have slammed Julia Gillard's $277 million boost for mental health services. They accused the government of showing a lack of political leadership. Senior mental health figures were overwhelmingly negative about yesterday's announcement from the Prime Minister. The Rudd government's former mental health adviser John Mendoza called it "a scattergun approach that will not really change the fundamentals".

Deadly diseases on our doorstep

28 July 2010: Australia's northern approaches are "wide open" to rising infectious diseases on our doorstep, James Cook University's pro vice-chancellor medicine, Ian Wronski, warned yesterday. "In Papua New Guinea, the reality is the public health system has collapsed. There's a cholera outbreak, HIV is way out of control and so is tuberculosis. This is the sort of thing we used to hear about just from Bangladesh and the Ivory Coast, but is now occurring on our doorstep," he said.

Gazard: Leave health announcements to Dutton

28 July 2010: The Liberal candidate for Eden-Monaro in South East New South Wales, David Gazard, says he is not prepared to pre-empt the Coalition's health commitments for Jindabyne. Mr Gazard says he is committed to improving health services in the High Country, but the Opposition's plans are a matter for its Health Spokesman, Peter Dutton, to address.

Roxon defends suicide prevention spending

27 July 2010: The Federal Government's unveiled nearly $280 million of spending to prevent suicide. But it's not been enough to silence the critics of Labor's approach to mental health. They say the spending is too small and doesn't constitute real reform. The Health Minister Nicola Roxon says the four-year package will help prevent the deaths of some of the 2,000 people who take their lives each year. And she says the measures don't just focus on the crisis end of mental care.

Health Commission steps up its warning against vaccine group

27 July 2010: The New South Wales Health Care Complaints Commission has taken the unusual step of issuing a safety warning against a group of anti-vaccination campaigners. The Commission says the group, known as the Australian Vaccination Network, has refused to include a prominent disclaimer on its website stating the information should not be taken as medical advice.

WA appoints mental health commissioner

27 July 2010: Western Australia has become the first state to appoint a mental health commissioner. Mental Health Minister Graham Jacobs on Tuesday announced the appointment of Eddie Bartnik as WA's first-ever Mental Health Commissioner.

Mental health funding to save lives

27 July 2010: Lifeline says no amount of funding will be enough to satisfy the growing demand for its suicide prevention services. But the agency welcomed federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon's pledge on Tuesday of $277 million for mental health services, of which $18 million would go to Lifeline.

PM's mental health message hits snag

27 July 2010: Prime Minister Julia Gillard has apologised for using the image of a severely disabled man in an election pamphlet without permission. But the family of the man, who is in his late 50s and lives in an aged-care facility, remain furious about the pamphlets, distributed in Ms Gillard's electorate of Lalor.

Mental health lobby wants more funds

27 July 2010: Labor's $277 million commitment to suicide prevention falls short of what is needed to address major service gaps, says the Mental Health Council of Australia. David Crosbie, CEO of the Mental Health Council of Australia (MHCA), said the measures were "real steps forward".

Heaters increase health problems: study

27 July 2010: The NSW government is under fire for not disclosing when or how much it will cost to replace the state's unflued school heaters, after a report found they posed a health risk to some children. The long-awaited Woolcock Institute study found the "lo-NOx" or low-emission heaters slightly increased the risk of coughing and wheezing in some students, but more importantly had no impact on lung function.

After-hours care best in our hands, says AGPN

27 July 2010: The AGPN has renewed its calls for after hours care to be coordinated by the new network of Medicare Local primary health care organisations.

In its election wish list, the divisions’ network says the major parties need to implement comprehensive and accessible after-hours GP services that are run by the new PHCOs.

Boost for emergency departments – Australian Medical Association

27 July 2010: AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said that Labor's emergency department package is a welcome boost to the pressured and overworked emergency departments in our public hospitals.

Long-term treatment needed as both sides stall on health reform

27 July 2010: The nation's leading health economists and advocates fear the Labor reforms did not go far enough. They say the reforms leave Australia at risk from an ageing population, limited resources and rising medical bills. And the lack of any significant pledges of further structural reform by either side in the campaign has the sector worried. Mary Chiarella, a member of the Hospital Reform Group and Health Workforce Australia, said the commonwealth should have taken total funding responsibility for health to eradicate cost-shifting.

Labor's cure for emergency-room shortages

27 July 2010: Hospital emergency departments will get an extra 2000 nurses and 270 specialist doctors over the next decade if Labor is re-elected. By unveiling the plan, the Prime Minister focused on health for the first time. But the government came under fire for sowing confusion over the source of funding after it first said the $96 million for the scheme had been allocated in the budget – only to be contradicted by the Prime Minister's insistence that the money was new. The money was, in fact, first allocated in the government's economic statement in July, as part of an updating of the 2010-11 budget, under the heading of "decisions taken but not yet announced".

GP hotline faces axe under Liberals

27 July 2010: Up to 760,000 after-hours consultations with doctors and nurses would be axed, increasing pressure on public hospital emergency departments under Tony Abbott's plan to abolish a $417 million after-hours GP service. Mr Abbott has pledged to axe a new 24-hour GP hotline announced by the Government in the May Budget to help get the Budget back into surplus by 2013.

Gillard turns to Rudd's mental health nemesis

27 July 2010: Julia Gillard has sought the advice of mental health expert John Mendoza – the man shunned by Kevin Rudd. At a gathering in the Prime Minister's office on July 15 – two days before she called the election – Ms Gillard met Professor Mendoza and another vocal critic of mental health funding, Australian of the Year Patrick McGorry, as she explored options for a policy to be announced in the campaign.

Developers warned against Medicare contracts because of e-health safety concerns

27 July 2010: The Gillard government is refusing to back the safety of its Healthcare Identifier service, leaving users with liability for system failures. The Medical Software Industry Association has warned its members not to sign development contracts with the operator, Medicare, under these conditions, and is trying to negotiate changes with the Health Department.

Smart houses key to keeping the elderly at home

27 July 2010: Smart houses equipped with movement sensors and intelligent systems are the key to keeping aged people well and living in their own homes. A new report, Smart technology for Healthy Longevity, says enormous health and safety benefits can be gained using existing wireless systems along with new "gerontechnologies".

Grateful patient gives thanks for new face

July 27, 2010: A Spanish man who underwent the world's first full face transplant has appeared before TV cameras for the first time since his surgery, thanking his doctors and the family of the donor.

Anti-vaccine group a threat

27 July 2010: The Health Care Complaints Commission has issued a public warning against the Australian Vaccination Network after it refused to display a disclaimer on its website to inform readers its information should not be taken as medical advice.

New breast unit for public patients

27 July 2010: Thanks to a new public health service – the first in regional NSW – Kylie Alder has her breast back, and with it her self-esteem and zest for life. The 37-year-old is the first patient to have had surgery at the Calvary Mater Hospital's new breast reconstruction unit, established to meet demand from women who have lost one or both breasts due to cancer.

Gillard switches focus to health

26 July 2010: Julia Gillard has stumbled as she moved to shift the election focus to the traditional Labor strong-point of health for the first time, amid growing support for the coalition. The prime minister's attempt to set the election agenda came as the opposition seized on the latest opinion polls to declare the coalition just a few points shy of victory.

UK Professior Brayne discovers link to dementia and education

26 July 2010: The aptly-named British professor Carole Brayne discovered why highly educated brains are less likely to suffer dementia. Her research, published in the journal Brain, claimed “each additional year of education” decreases the risk of dementia development by 11 percent.

Fast food forum takes aim at labelling

26 July 2010: The New South Wales government will next month hold a fast food forum to discuss its plan to force larger chains to publish nutritional information such as calorie and fat content. NSW Premier Kristina Keneally and former premier Bob Carr will co-chair the fast food forum on August 16, which will look at the government's plans to tackle the "supersize" culture of the big restaurant chains.

New funding is a win for emergency nurses and their patients

26 July 2010: Lee Thomas, federal secretary of the Australian Nursing Federation, said new funding for emergency nurses will provide a more highly skilled workforce in emergency departments. “It is imperative that we encourage more people into nursing and then continue to develop their skills throughout their working life so patients receive the best possible care.”

GPs fearful of nurse subsidies

26 July 2010: Nearly half of GP surgeries say a $390 million federal government plan will leave them worse off. A poll of GPs conducted by the Australian Medical Association found 44 per cent of practices that did not have a nurse would be more likely to hire one once the changes took effect. But 48 per cent of practices that responded also said they would be worse off, 21 per cent of practices that already employed a nurse said they would probably cut nurses' hours, and 56 per cent that had nurses said GPs would suffer financially – raising a question over how effective the new incentives will prove.

Junior doctors' crushing workloads put patients at risk

26 July 2010: ''Safe hours'' exist only as guidelines on paper. The reality is much different. Final year medical students across Victoria found out last week where they will begin work as doctors when January rolls around. These doctors-to-be are highly educated, motivated, and compassionate, but a few months into their internships, they are likely to be so exhausted that they will have stopped caring about the patients that they set out wanting to help.

Gallagher: Online community consultation for redevelopment of centre for newborn care

24 July 2010: ACT Minister for Health Katy Gallagher today announced that Canberra Hospital's Centre for Newborn Care will soon launch an online discussion forum for the parents of former patients to be involved in the centre's redevelopment. "The online forum will be hosted by ACT Health under strict security, and parents can only join by invitation from the Clinical Director of the Department of Neonatology, Associate Professor Kecskes, who will be writing to seek their involvement in this initiative."

Ten mental health services

24 July 2010: Ten new youth mental health centres would be established across the country every year for the next three years if the Labor government is re-elected, Health Minister Nicola Roxon says. The first 10 new Headspace services where young people can seek advice and help about mental health issues would be located at two sites in both NSW and Victoria, three in Queensland and one each in Tasmania, Perth and South Australia.

Doctor shortage worsens

24 July 2010: The Australian Medical Association says Perth's GP shortage will continue to worsen unless the Federal Government makes general practice more attractive to doctors. The warning follows the release of Health Department figures, which show the number of suburbs without the minimum number of doctors has increased to 34.

War on drugs helping spread HIV: criminalisation of illicit drug use

24 July 2010: The international system of drug prohibition is under increasing challenge these days. As illustrated by the Vienna Declaration launched at the recent International AIDS Conference, powerful voices are arguing that prohibition is undermining efforts to slow the spread of HIV among and from injecting drug users. The declaration articulates the argument that the criminalisation of illicit drug users is fuelling the HIV epidemic and has resulted in overwhelmingly negative health and social consequences. A full policy reorientation is needed.

Technology the ticket to elderly home care

24 July 2010: Older Australians could remain in their own homes far longer and in better health with the support of smart devices and medical systems. In a groundbreaking study of the emerging field of gerontechnology, the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering says huge social and financial benefits are already being derived from technology-based ageing-in-place initiatives in other countries, yet the issue is not on the agenda here.

Key data hard to find: premature death

24 July 2010: As a practising nurse with 37 years' clinical experience, I appreciate the impact premature death has on families. Too many die before their time, especially indigenous patients. Understanding statistics and causes of death is fundamental to tackling the underlying causes of illness. But statistics are only useful if the information is correct and relevant to a specific area.

What should the new MyHospitals website tell us?

23 July 2010: From next month, Australians will be able to search a MyHospitals website to find out information about public hospitals, according to recent statements from Health Minister Nicola Roxon and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. What else could the website include?  This is a list of discussion-starters that I suggested, and keep reading below to see a wealth of other ideas from Croakey contributors.

Do physician assistants have a future in Australia? Yes, says the Minister…

23 July 2010: Could physician assistants (PAs) help fill the workforce gaps in rural, remote and Indigenous health, and improve access to healthcare for under-served communities? Minister Warren Snowdon seems to think so, according to a Croakey contributor, Tony Wells, who heard his address to a national rural health students conference in Alice Springs last week.

Oncology update: Newsletter

23 July 2010:

1. •Tirapazamine-cisplatin schedule for cervical cancer shows high toxicity
   

2. •Colorectal cancer screening test shows seasonal accuracy
   

3. •Reassuring safety data on bevacizumab in non-small cell lung cancer
   

4. •Palliative care agencies' performance drops
   

5. •More thyroid cancer being detected
   

6. •New medical board rego due soon