Bad medicine for regional Australia
Trent Twomey. Sixty-day dispensing may sound good, but dig a little deeper and it’s rural and regional Australia that will pay ... “You don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone.” It may as well be the theme song for 60-day dispensing, where pharmacists will be required to dispense two months’ worth of medicine for the price of one month.
Urgent Care Clinic deadline missed
An Urgent Care Clinic in Toowoomba, promised to be up and running by 1 July 2023, is yet to be finished ... The Federal Labor Government had promised the Toowoomba UCC, as well as 50 others around the country, would be up and running by the deadline ... So far, only eleven UCCs have opened, nine in Victoria and two in Western Australia.
Covid vaxx discrimination Bill deadline extended
The reporting time for the Covid-19 Vaccination Status (Prevention of Discrimination) Bill 2022 and the Fair Work Amendment (Prohibiting Covid-19 Vaccine Discrimination) Bill 2023 has been extended to August 25, 2023. On February 9, 2023, the Senate referred to the committee with the bill’s intention to prohibit the commonwealth, states and territories and other government and non-government entities from discriminating on the basis of whether a person has had a Covid-19 vaccination in the provision of goods, services and facilities and also in employment, education, accommodation and sport, and amend the Fair Work Act 2009 by adding Covid-19 vaccination status as an attribute protected from discrimination.
AirPhysio launches a range of respiratory health products in the UAE
AirPhysio is an Australian Made and Owned Medical Device manufacturer based in the Northern Rivers of NSW ... AirPhysio has expanded from 5 countries in January 2021 to 106 countries in the past 2 years, they decided to enter the Middle East through Arab Health in January 2022, bringing home l75 leads from over 25 countries..
Trial for 24/7 guards at Wallaroo Hospital
Security guards will be trialled at Wallaroo Hospital following a vigorous campaign by the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Foundation SA Branch and the local community. State Health Minister Chris Picton announced ... the Yorke and Northern Local Health Network board had decided to trial the use of 24/7 guards for six months at the Wallaroo and Port Pirie Hospitals, starting as soon as possible. This follows recent terrifying incidents at both hospitals.
$550,000 machine saving more lives
Patients arriving at Naracoorte Hospital from vehicle crashes, farm accidents and sports injuries will no longer be always sent away for further high tech, detailed computer tomography scans ... A scanner installed 7.5 years ago – which saved hundreds of lives – has now been replaced with a $550,000 new, faster, high-tech one. And not one cent of government funding was involved.
Radiation submission lodged
An SA Legislative Review Committee inquiring into radiation therapy in the Limestone Coast is underway in State Parliament. A written submission by the Limestone Coast Radiation Therapy Working Group includes the awful experiences of many forced to travel to Adelaide, including Naracoorte’s “Lisa” and “Graham Hinze”.
Big win for health in rural communities: AMA (NSW)
AMA (NSW) President, Dr Michael Bonning, said the expansion of the GP Single-Employer Model is a big win for patient access to quality health services in rural and regional communities in NSW. Dr Bonning said the Model, which allows doctors to train in State-run hospitals as well as private clinics, will provide funding for 80 rural generalist GPs in NSW from next year.
Call to delay 60-day dispensing
Michelle Daw. Yorke Peninsula pharmacists and the pharmacy industry peak group are concerned about the impact of 60-day dispensing on their future. This comes as medical leaders have thrown their support behind the initiative.
Local children left in silence
Fin Hansen. Five Yorke Peninsula families have been caught up in a review of the Women’s and Children’s Hospital Network (Adelaide) cochlear implant program. The independent review was commissioned by the state government in March after an internal audit found 30 of 117 children in the program had experienced potential implant mapping issues.
Doctors back 60-day policy
The Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA) has backed the Federal Government’s 60 day dispensing measure for selected medications, saying it is good policy for rural patients. RDAA has added that it doesn’t believe the plan will impact the financial sustainability of rural and remote pharmacies, as increased supports are being put in place to assist them.
Public health alert
Darling Downs Public Health Unit is managing two confirmed cases of locally acquired Hepatitis A in Toowoomba. The residents were active in the community and a child attended a local school whilst infectious from 14 May 2023.
Cuppas and companionship tackle cancer: Charlton’s Biggest Morning Tea
Jenny Pollard. With the cold weather relegated to the outdoors, Charlton residents and businesses declared their support for cancer research, raising $926 at last Wednesday’s “Biggest Morning Tea”, hosted by CWA Branch, Cabbaritta, and held in the warm confines of the Charlton Lions Lodge.
New ECU health centre to service Yanchep and surrounds
A new community health service for Yanchep and the surrounding areas has been announced by federal Health and Aged Care Minister Mark Butler. The ECU Health Centre Yanchep will include two co-located, integrated, multidisciplinary health facilities, providing services designed to meet the current and future health needs of the rapidly growing Yanchep area, while improving health and wellbeing outcomes.
In the pink at Breast Comp Ever
Emma Perrier’s aunt in Brisbane died from breast cancer four years ago, spurring Emma to create a sporting event to raise money for breast cancer awareness. On Sunday, June 25 at Main Beach in Evans Head, Emma was surrounded by a sea of pink at the Breast Comp Ever, a female surf competition.
Concerns aired at Country Mayors conference
Narrandera Shire Council delegate to the recent Country Mayors Association Deputy Mayor Cameron Lander alerted his fellow councillors to the main concerns discussed at the association meeting in a report to Tuesday’s Council meeting ... The NSW Country Mayors Association (CMA) is an incorporated body formed to speak for the residents of regional and rural NSW.
State Cabinet visits Kangaroo Island: Malinauskas, Bignell
Premier Peter Malinauskas and his Cabinet Ministers will visit Kangaroo Island today [22 June 2023] and tomorrow as part of the State Government’s Country Cabinet. Demonstrating the Government’s commitment to regional South Australia, this is the fourth in a series of Country Cabinets – which has already taken the Premier and Ministers to Port Pirie & Port Augusta, Mount Gambier and Yorke Peninsula.
Subsidy increased to ease financial burden on travelling patients: Fentiman
A travel subsidy for patients who access essential health care away from their home communities will be increased to help vulnerable Queenslanders manage cost of living pressures. The Palaszczuk Government announced that the recent state budget would fund an increase in the Patient Travel Subsidy Scheme (PTSS).
Goomburra emergency action group
Goomburra is the first community across the Region to develop a Local Emergency Action Plan. Disaster preparedness is one of the Goomburra Town Hall (GTH) Committee’s aim for the Goomburra Valley and North Branch Road as there is only one road in and out.
Queensland communities welcome first PNG aged care workers to Australia: Conroy, Wells
The first group of workers from Papua New Guinea to be employed in Australia’s aged care sector under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme has arrived in regional Queensland. The eight workers from PNG provinces including Western Highlands, New Ireland and Morobe will be employed by Southern Cross Care at aged care facilities at Chinchilla, Murgon and Taroom in Southeast Queensland, where local aged care staff have been hard to find.
Tiger star badly hurt in crash
Three-time Richmond premiership player, Bachar Houli, remains in a stable condition after suffering serious injuries in an accident on a Bringenbrong property at around 9am on Sunday morning including a broken pelvis, fractured shoulder and a punctured lung.
Regional doctors to provide voluntary assisted dying
Michelle Daw. Doctors in the region covered by the Yorke and Northern Local Health Network are among those who have completed mandatory training for Voluntary Assisted Dying ... VAD Board presiding member Associate Professor Melanie Turner encouraged more clinicians to consider registering for VAD training so they could support South Australians with the care they may need, no matter where they lived in the state.
