Category: Health

The planned introduction of independent assessments for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) will further disadvantage those with complex and not obviously manifest disabilities. For marginalised people with disabilities there are questions. (more…)

While the federal government indulged in semantics, Covid-19 deaths continued to rise in the woefully under-prepared residential aged care sector. 2020 was a horror year for older people living in residential aged care.

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The Retirement Income Review (Callaghan) Report concluded that the Australian retirement income system is effective, sound and its costs are broadly sustainable.

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As wealthy countries scramble to buy up the limited supply of big-name coronavirus vaccines, China is stepping in to offer its homegrown jabs to poorer countries. But the largesse is not entirely altruistic, with Beijing hoping for a long-term diplomatic return. (more…)

‘Yes, if you think the op’s necessary, Doc, of course I’ll have it. Just so I know, are there any risks? And how long will I be in hospital? Thanks, see you in theatre. Oh, by the way, you won’t be operating on me on your birthday, will you, Doc?’

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The basic imperative for controlling an epidemic wherein the inhalation of aerosolised viral particles can cause much illness and death, is to stay away from each other.
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A collection of recent articles about the dismissal of the key role of nurses by the Medical Benefits Schedule Review Taskforce. The doctor dominated Taskforce is determined not to understand that nurses hold the health system together (more…)

If there is a “brotherhood of man” now is the time for it to manifest itself as we respond to the enormous challenge involved in overcoming the inequity that could stop us winning the struggle with a deadly virus. Of course in helping the less fortunate we will be helping ourselves.

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At a meeting recently  in Texas the chairman of the International Association for the Promotion of SARS viruses addressed an enthusiastic audience. Representatives of all strains of COVID-19 currently having their way with humans were present. “How much better is this than being confined to a dingy cave resting in a Bat”, he laughed. “How smart we were to pick a host whose behaviour is helping us to multiply and see the world?”. (more…)

For the sake of improved nationwide health care delivery, in its eventual response to the MBS Review, we sincerely hope that government is able to demonstrate an enlightened approach to the role of Nurse Practitioners in Australia.

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Watching 22-year-old cricketer Will Pucovski collapse after a rock-hard ball travelling at more than 100mph smashed into the side of his head was literally sickening. The ninth time he would be diagnosed as having concussion, the cumulative damage to his brain could be very serious.

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The long-awaited Medicare Benefits Scheme Taskforce Review (MBSTR) Report has been released but brought little  joy for those seeking contemporary health care delivery, improved consumer choice, and outcome-based care.

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Five years in the making, the Final Report of the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) Review Task Force was quietly released last week. Associate Professor Lesley Russell outlines the wide-ranging findings and how they are likely to shape the future of the MBS.

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During COVID-19, it is the nurses who are predominantly in the front line. Doctors can come into a ward, see patients and then move on. The nurses stay there. They are the ones most exposed to infection. They put their lives on the line. And they are true professionals, to be valued and respected. Let’s celebrate them

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In a short period of time the coronavirus crisis has disrupted most aspects of Australian life – the economy, our social and cultural activities, education, health, and transport. It is becoming exceedingly clear to the public the extraordinary role that doctors, and nurses have played during this pandemic.

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With the global effort to immunise 8 billion people leaving the station the challenges involved are immense. (more…)

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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The Medicare Benefits Schedule Review Taskforce further curtails Nurse Practitioner practice – a case of unenlightened self-interest? (more…)

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 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…)

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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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…)

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…)

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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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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