In 2020 the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife there has been a focus on nurses and nursing. Not the one planned, but nonetheless, nurses have been seen: by politicians and the public. But not by the medical doctors with their vested interests. (more…)
Category: Health
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Dentists, overtreatment and policy deficiencies
A recent article in Pearls and Wisdom discussed the issue of “overtreatment” (the provision of unnecessary or low priority care) in dentistry and the associated issue of the conflict between ethics and profits.
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A perverse, offensive and oppressive rejection of nurses
The Medicare Benefits Schedule Review Taskforce further curtails Nurse Practitioner practice – a case of unenlightened self-interest? (more…)
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What has happened to influenza (and everything else) during the COVID-19 pandemic?
By December 10 2020, there have been over 68 million cases of COVID-19 and over 1.5 million deaths worldwide. But there has been a dramatic reduction in influenza, a winter illness responsible for about 3000 deaths annually in Australia
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Overtreatment in Dentistry: A Professional Controversy
Overtreatment is clearly an ethical issue in dentistry; we need leadership within the profession that is not afraid to confront the challenges which face both practitioners and the public. (more…)
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El Cheapo Aged Care: why the Coalition’s make-work schemes won’t work
The best interests of older people are not uppermost in this government’s thinking. Referring to older people requiring care as “consumers”, describing the transfer of residents to hospital as “decanting”, talk of “cohorting” residents into specific sections of a home and other dehumanising language set the scene for its priorities. (more…)
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There were shocking Covid-19 infection rates in USA arrivals in March – why were flights not shut down?
In early March this year, our experts should have gone in search of hard data. They would quickly have determined that the infection rate in USA arrivals was in dire contrast to the published USA rates.
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Three cheers for health workers who care for patients, communities and the planet
During the Covid crisis doctors and heath care workers have been a ‘light on the hill’ for service and dedication to humanity. By September 2020 over 7000 around the world had died from Covid contracted at work. (more…)
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Fraudster will create US COVID vaccination problems
In the US we can guarantee that someone among the anti-vaxxers will be claiming that the new President is trying to poison them and/or forcibly convert them to communism. (more…)
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‘Our Malady’ by Timothy Snyder: Lessons for Australia in health care
While this is a book about American healthcare, it raises issues that are relevant to Australia. Written earlier this year, many issues facing current healthcare – both in hospitals and in the community – are discussed. (more…)
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The people with disabilities who regularly miss out
Disability has been co-opted by bureaucracies, professional bodies and institutions, often in a harmful way … Instead of seeing welfare as a social drain, ‘faring well’ should be an act of decency, a helping hand to a contributing life.
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Review of the Therapeutic Goods Advertising Framework
Just two years on from the implementation of new laws to control advertising for misleading and deceptive therapeutic goods, the scheme is in tatters. Having failed to halt a wave of wrongful conduct and in the face of growing numbers of complaints the TGA has given up on systematic enforcement.
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Covid vaccine claims 90% efficacy; Australia has bought 10 million doses
It was an exciting announcement for Covid-weary people everywhere – but while Scott Morrison has endorsed the importance of sharing vaccines, Australia voted to prevent developing countries from having the chance to build local production. (more…)
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Biden wins the poisoned chalice as we pray for a coronavirus vaccine
The challenges facing President-elect Joe Biden and his team are daunting; A polarised population, high levels of unemployment, a likely Republican-dominated senate, and the perseverance of COVID-19 to name a few. (more…)
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Hotel quarantine interim report on outsourcing recommends changes but accountability questions remain (Kristen Rundle, The Conversation 6.11.20)
If the front line of the hotel quarantine system was simply too important a responsibility to be outsourced, it is time to get to the bottom of why this was the case, and why it might also be the case for other high-stakes government functions that carry serious consequences for public health or safety. (more…)
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Where to send granny? Bringing the last generation back into total society
There used to be five. Two have died in the past year, so with just three using wheelchairs and walking frames the street looks less like an archipelagic version of what Australia used to call ‘nursing homes’. That was before Covid-19 and realising the term was a lie.
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Around the world it is the lack of caution among 19-29 year olds that disproportionally puts infection control at risk
The Victorian ‘lockdown’ was necessary, brutal and successful. But any COVID complacency could be literally fatal. We must ask a lot of our younger Australians who understandably chafe at restrictions placed on their social interactions. (more…)
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Tianshu Bai et al. Private or Public? The declining use of private healthcare in Australia (Melbourne Institute Oct 2020)
Australia has seen a steady decline in private health insurance (PHI) membership in the past five years. Since June 2015, the proportion of Australians with private health insurance has fallen from 47.4 per cent to 43.6 per cent in March 2020.
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Angelique Chan. Asian countries do aged care differently. Here’s what we can learn from them (The Conversation Oct 23, 2020)
Unlike in Western countries like Australia, traditional Asian cultures place a heavy emphasis on filial piety — the expectation children will support their parents in old age.
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Yes Minister: Another day, another aged care scandal
The Morrison government has redefined Westminster ministerial responsibility. No longer does a minister bear ultimate responsibility for the actions of its ministry or department. (more…)
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Aged care: Commissioners hand government a ‘get out of jail’ card with disagreement between Commissioners.
Observers of the Aged Care Royal Commission were witness to an unprecedented sight at its final public hearings last week when the two Commissioners disagreed publicly on the future governance arrangements for Australia’s failing aged care system.
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No one else in the world has tamed a second wave this large like Daniel Andrews (The Conversation Oct 26, 2020)
If the past few months have been like a long-haul flight, Victorians are now standing in the aisles waiting for the cabin door to open, a little groggy and disoriented but relieved. They have every right to be. No other place in the world has tamed a second wave this large. Few have even come close. (more…)
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Aged care and the magic pudding
Australia needs a modern fit for purpose aged care system that is affordable and responsive to the needs of older people and their families. At the same time, it must not impose an inequitable burden on younger people.
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Despite more than 30 major inquiries, governments still haven’t fixed aged care. Why are the lobbyists getting away with it? (Oct 21, 2020)
The government funds the sector and provides a relatively “light-touch” oversight, while the providers attend to the day-to-day running of the facilities. However, there is concern this alignment has meant successive governments are not as involved as they should be and proposals for change are diluted by the influence of industry lobbyists.
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Reform of the waterfront, with its dogs and security guards, was minor compared to what’s needed for health sector
Medicare funds the established system of health care delivery, a system that has not seen major changes since Medicare was established 56 years ago. It needs serious reform and particularly in the way the health workforce is structured. The pandemic has revealed serious weaknesses. (more…)
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The lack of integration in Australia’s health workforce. There are unconnected silos everywhere.
We urgently needed healthcare reforms :better workforce planning: more equitable workforce distribution,more efficient workforce utilisation,improved workforce productivity and financing reforms to sustain these changes. We call for the restoration of an independent health workforce agency to drive this essential work.
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The Victorian lockdown is not just about health and lives!
Recently we have had Peter Singer, WHO envoys and Chris Uhlmann seemingly critical of the Covid-19 lockdown in Victoria. However, have they failed to recognise the significance of Victoria not being a country but one of eight states and territories? (more…)
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Misinformation about Covid-19. Don’t listen to Donald Trump or Alan Jones.
Here is the big so important question. As we prepare to ease some restrictions, will we, in contradistinction to many communities in other countries, embrace the long-term behaviours that must be normalised to allow us to live as safely and productively as is possible in a Covid-infected world? We need to look closely at the efforts of those in many countries for their track record is dismal. (more…)
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No shortage of options to pay for rights-based care for the elderly with a disability. Part 2
A rights-based system for aged care to support those who are unable to participate fully in society will not be cheap. To bring us into line with the standards adopted by high performing countries with similar living standards will likely require a doubling of expenditure.
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Gillard’s discrimination against people with a disability aged over 65 must be put right – Part 1
It is a truth universally acknowledged – our aged care system is in a tragic mess. It has become a badly regulated, provider-centric system focused more on limiting Commonwealth budget exposure than supporting the dignity and independence of older Australians. (more…)