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The following articles have the tag Nicola Roxon
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott will be judged on his long-held views on abortion and IVF access despite his chief-of-staff going public about his support for her IVF attempts, says Attoney-General Nicola Roxon.
THE federal opposition claims government legislation allowing primary health care groups to use the Medicare name is a cover-up for a mistake made by a former health minister.
THE federal government is considering broadening tough new mandatory reporting laws for e-health records, including fines for those who fail to report breaches, beyond the realm of health care, MO can reveal.
THE federal government’s High Court victory against Big Tobacco on the issue of plain packaged cigarettes should inspire other countries to push ahead with plain packaging laws, Attorney-General Nicola Roxon has said.
THE department of health has again defended Redcliffe GP Super Clinic but has admitted the facility remains incomplete and without a clinical operator despite a government bailout plan to have it open at the start of this year.
THE federal opposition has called on the government to release a crucial detail of its $3.2 million bailout of Redcliffe GP super clinic as MO can reveal the project is without a clinical operator and final fit-out nine months after the bail-out.
A FORMER federal government mental health adviser who quit over cuts to MBS rebates has criticised the government for waiting until the cuts were in place before asking for public input into its 10-year mental health strategy.
A LEADING public health lobby group has branded a major tobacco company “insulting” and “cynical in the extreme” for using a kangaroo image on cigarette packages overseas.
PUBLIC health experts have welcomed the federal government’s establishment of a dedicated information hotline for women worried about potentially unsafe breast implants, but have warned insufficient post-market regulation of medical devices in Australia remains an issue.
NEW Health Minister Tanya Plibersek, already swamped with demands from GP, consumer, pharmacy and industry groups, has acknowledged the central role of general practice in Australian healthcare.
A CABINET reshuffle is being seen as an opportunity for new Health Minister Tanya Plibersek and the government to back away from the 1 July deadline for the introduction of a personally controlled e-health record (PCEHR).
BRITISH American Tobacco’s (BAT) High Court challenge to the government’s plain packaging legislation has been rubbished by Quit executive director Fiona Sharkie , who said she expected the challenge to fail.
THE Senate will investigate new legislation intended to create Australia’s personally controlled e-health record (PCEHR) system after the two relevant bills were referred to the Senate Standing Committees on Community Affairs last week.
INDEPENDENT MP Rob Oakeshott has backed rural doctors calling on the government’s new rural health agency to “show its teeth”, saying if the new agency failed to deliver, “our health system fails”.
HEALTH Minister Nicola Roxon has given GPs a guarantee that every cent saved through the controversial cuts to the Better Access scheme will be reinvested elsewhere in mental health services.
THE prospect of further cuts to the MBS has drawn an angry reaction from AMA Council of General Practice chair Dr Brian Morton, who said GPs already sacrificed their own incomes to act as the “government’s social conscience”. Dr Morton said comments made yesterday by Health Minister Nicola Roxon showed she considered GPs to be “fat cats who can take a cut”. Ms Roxon, addressing the Committee for the Economic Development of Australia in Melbourne yesterday, said the government had been “carefully running the ruler over existing expenditure”. She said ...
THE government may be forced to subsidise medical software vendors with contributions of up to $10 million a year in order to provide security for electronic patient records. According to industry experts, there is still no clear value for GPs in the personally controlled e-health records (PCEHR) system. MediSecure CEO Phillip Shepherd said if GPs didn’t see value in the system, they would be reluctant to pay enough for clinical software to allow vendors to provide ongoing security upgrades and protect patient information. “You have to create an environment where stakeholders other than the government see ...
HEALTH Minister Nicola Roxon has taken a swipe at the AMA following the association’s call for the auditor-general to investigate the federal government's GP super clinics program. The move by the AMA comes after Ms Roxon announced the scrapping of a planned clinic in Darwin on Wednesday and the axing of a Tasmanian super clinic last week. AMA president Dr Steve Hambleton has written to Auditor-General Ian McPhee "urging a thorough audit of the program by the Australian National Audit Office". Dr Hambleton accused the government of putting political needs ...
HEALTH Minister Nicola Roxon has given a $3.2 million bailout to Queensland’s Redcliffe GP super clinic, just three days after another super clinic collapsed because the government had refused it extra funding. The lifeline – which takes the federal government’s spending on the beleaguered Redcliffe project to $13.2 million – follows weeks of tense negotiations as the construction company stopped work claiming it had not been paid. It also comes after the super clinic’s owner, Redcliffe Hospital Foundation (RHF), failed to secure a loan from the Queensland government and the Queensland Health Minister ...
EXPERTS have defended the security of patient information held in hard copy general practice files after Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the government’s personally controlled electronic health record (PCEHR) system would be more secure than traditional paper records. The minister said last week there were “very few protections” for paper records in general practice, with a spokesperson later telling MO e-health records would be more secure because they would be subject to a range of mechanisms to protect privacy. However, MDA National medicolegal and advisory services manager Dr Sara Bird said the minister’s apparent concerns about record ...
HEALTH Minister Nicola Roxon has passed responsibility for the stalled Redcliffe GP super clinic to the Queensland government after it rejected an emergency loan request that could have revived the project. The $5 million centre was meant to have opened in June but is now under a cloud after builders fenced off the site because of a $1.5 million construction bill they say has gone unpaid for two months. The state-appointed Redcliffe Hospital Foundation, which is in charge of the project, had sought an emergency loan from Queensland – a move supported by ...
GPs are considering charging patients, billing Medicare or demanding yearly registration fees to work on electronic health records, while Health Minister Nicola Roxon has reiterated the government’s expectation that the profession would do the bulk of the work on the new system. POLL : Would you bill patients to set up e-health records? National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA) clinical lead Dr Emil Djakic said in the absence of funding for GPs’ time, it could be the patient who footed the bill. “[If the person benefiting from a service is the patient], the patient ...
AUSTRALIA will have a seat at the table when the United Nations General Assembly meets to discuss the US$47 trillion challenge of non-communicable diseases in New York this week. The High-Level Meeting on Non-communicable Diseases is just the second time the assembly has met specifically to discuss health issues, reflecting the challenge posed by diseases like cancer and diabetes, which a recent report estimated would cost about 4% of the world’s GDP over the next 20 years. Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the meeting was an important opportunity for Australia to share ...
Every day those in medical centres across Australia experience the pressures associated with the rising levels of chronic disease, the greater complexity of patient presentations and the demands of an ageing population. With around 75% of the population reporting that they have one or more current long-term medical conditions, doctors are seeing patients walking into their GP clinics with increasing frequency. Our ageing population is compounding this situation, with nearly all people aged 65 years or older having at least one long-term condition and more than 80% of people in this age group having three or more ...
FEDERAL Health Minister Nicola Roxon has hit back at critics of the opt-in system for setting up individual electronic health records, saying people shouldn't have to make the switch before they are ready.
THE tobacco industry’s “desperate and deceptive campaign” to oppose plain packaging legislation has earned it the AMA’s 2011 Dirty Ashtray Award, while the Commonwealth and WA Governments have been lauded for their efforts to combat smoking. Outgoing AMA president Dr Andrew Pesce this morning congratulated Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon on the Government’s efforts to reduce smoking rates over the past year. The endorsement will be another blow to Opposition Leader Tony Abbott who has been under sustained pressure to back the Government’s proposal for plain packaging for tobacco products. Two Liberal MPs and doctors, Andrew ...
HEALTH Minister Nicola Roxon has urged incoming AMA president Dr Steve Hambleton to work with the Government on Medicare Locals and defended the “sensible recalibration” of rebates for GP mental health plans, in a speech to the association’s national conference in Brisbane today. Ms Roxon urged Dr Hambleton to “stay inside the tent” when it came to discussing Medicare Locals, following ongoing criticisms from the AMA of the rollout of the organisations. The AMA has called for the rollout to be put on hold until the exact functions Medicare Locals will have are made clearer and GP ...
THE Government has reaffirmed its commitment to scrapping the Chronic Disease Dental Scheme as soon as it can muster the numbers to pass the required legislation. A spokesman for Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the Chronic Disease Dental Scheme would continue, even though the Government viewed it as a waste of money, with the Coalition having opposed Government efforts in Parliament to abolish the program. The Government announced in March that Medicare had a list of 50 GPs who would be audited based on their use of the scheme, along with a crackdown on dentists, with Human ...
HEALTH Minister Nicola Roxon will meet representatives of the Consumers Health Forum, the AMA, Medicines Australia and the Generic Medicines Industry Association in Melbourne tomorrow to discuss Government delays in the listing of new medicines on the PBS. The summit talks follow recent incidences of medicines recommended by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee for Government subsidy being deferred by the Labor Cabinet, including treatments for lung disease, chronic pain, schizophrenia and enlarged prostate. A catch-up vaccine to prevent pneumococcal disease in young children was also delayed. Another seven new drugs recommended by the committee for PBS ...
A BUREAUCRATIC bungle has sparked a wide-ranging Senate inquiry into AHPRA.
A RECORD number of GP registrars have entered the General Practice Education & Training (GPET) program this year, with all 900 places successfully filled. The announcement by Health Minister Nicola Roxon, made last week at the GPRA conference in Canberra, follows the promised increase in GP training place numbers – up from last year’s intake of 700. General practice appears to have been a popular career choice for medical graduates, with GPET receiving 1235 eligible applications, leaving over 300 applicants without a GP training place. Ms Roxon told delegates the increases to training place numbers over ...
HEALTH Minister Nicola Roxon has admitted that no analysis of existing local primary healthcare providers was carried out by her department prior to the Government’s 2010 pre-election pledge to fund 28 new GP super clinic sites. Ms Roxon was forced to make the admission in Parliament yesterday following a question on notice from Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Primary Healthcare Andrew Southcott. Dr Southcott had asked Ms Roxon for details of any analysis either she or her department had undertaken of existing providers in the communities nominated by the Government to receive super clinic funding in the lead-up ...
FEDERAL Health Minister Nicola Roxon has moved to reassure GPs that no practice will be worse off under proposed health reforms, after facing a grilling from doctors at the AGPN National Forum. During a heated question time, Ms Roxon conceded the Government would need to revisit some of its more unpopular health reforms, specifically the diabetes scheme, the practice nurse incentive payment and the after-hours grants. “There are some teething problems and tweaking that needs to be done,” she said. Ms Roxon said she was aware that a “small number” of practices might be disadvantaged by ...
FEDERAL Health Minister Nicola Roxon has rejected suggestions she is attempting to undermine WA Premier Colin Barnett’s continued stance against the Federal Government’s health reforms by personally lobbying his state’s ministers. Ms Roxon’s defence followed questions from journalists regarding meetings with WA Regional Development Minister Brendon Grylls as the Government continues efforts to convince WA to sign up to its health reform package. Earlier this year WA became the only state or territory to refuse to sign up to the Council of Australian Governments health reform package, which would have seen ...
FEDERAL Health Minister Nicola Roxon has moved to reassure GPs that no practice will be worse off under proposed health reforms, after facing a grilling from doctors at the AGPN National Forum. During a heated question time, Ms Roxon conceded the Government would need to revisit some of its more unpopular health reforms, specifically the diabetes scheme, the practice nurse incentive payment and the after-hours grants. “There are some teething problems and tweaking that needs to be done,” she said. Ms Roxon said she was aware that a “small number” of practices might be disadvantaged by ...
AFTER months of uncertainty the Healthcare Identifiers Bill has finally been passed by the Senate. The legislation, passed in the dying hours of Parliament before the winter recess, will enable all Australians and healthcare providers to be indentified by a unique 16-digit number. Medicare will have allocated 98% of Australian’s an individual healthcare identifier by Monday. National E-Health Transition Authority clinical lead Dr Mukesh Haikerwal said the Government and the Coalition should be congratulated for making e-health a priority. “Great credit is to be given to the Government for persevering with this and so too ...
HEALTH Minister Nicola Roxon defended the Federal Government’s reform policies at last week’s AMA National Conference during a debate with Shadow Health Minister Peter Dutton. Addressing delegates, Ms Roxon denied Local Hospital Networks and Medicare Locals would cause unnecessary bureaucracy, saying they would instead create a means for local clinicians to provide input into local health services. “This isn’t creating another bureaucracy. This is making sure people on the front line have the authority they need to make decisions to treat patients appropriately,” Ms Roxon said. Mr Dutton raised concerns over the Rudd Government’s reform package, ...
THE Opposition’s controversial about-face on e-health has come under fire from all sectors, with doctors arguing the plan would be an enormous backward step.In his Budget response, Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey said the Opposition would reap savings of $467.2 million by abolishing the e-health program – a project it has previously supported. The Rudd Government was quick to pounce on the backflip, referring back to previous statements from Opposition leader Tony Abbott where he advocated a fully-functioning e-health system. In 2007, Mr Abbott, then Health Minister, said “failure to establish an electronic patient record system within five years... ...
A lack of consultation has left experts concerned about the anticipated move towards pay-for-performance targets under the Federal Government’s new diabetes care plans. Key diabetes groups said they were caught unawares by the announcement and were yet to provide input on which clinical measures would be used. Some were worried that practices would be paid according to one-size-fits-all HbA1c targets, and have urged the Government to ensure the system reflects the challenges of treating different patient groups. Associate Professor Shane Hamblin, director of diabetes at Melbourne’s Western Health group, said universal targets were problematic and the ...
DIVIDING the health funding pot is a tough job, but doctors could make it easier by being more supportive, HealthMinister Nicola Roxon has told GPs. At last week’s General Practice Registrars Australia conference, she asked for understanding when funding one area meant sacrifices in another. “If you have a particular procedure which is being paid above the odds... and the Government tries to change it [to] free up money to put into other needy areas, we need the medical profession to back that,” she said. “I know that’s difficult, because historically you’ll all stick together, but ...
NEW legislation allowing patients to choose their own pathology provider will risk patient safety and waste GPs’ time, doctors and pathologists have warned. The Health Insurance Amendment (Pathology Requests) Bill 2010, tabled in Federal Parliament last week by Health Minister Nicola Roxon, is designed to encourage competition between pathology providers by allowing patients to attend any approved provider. Currently, patients attend the provider their GP refers them to. But GPs and pathologists have opposed the moves, claiming they will jeopardise the long-established systems between the two groups, and could put patients at risk. ...
AUSTRALIA is a step closer to developing a unified e-health system, following the tabling of federal legislation that will enable the rollout of the long-awaited health identification numbers to every patient, health professional and health provider. Health Minister Nicola Roxon this morning tabled the Healthcare Identifiers Bill 2010 and the Healthcare Identifiers (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2010, which, if passed, will provide the legislative framework for the unique healthcare identifiers (UHI). In her second reading speech, Ms Roxon said without the numbers there could not be an integrated, consistent e-health system in Australia. “One of the major ...
PRESSURE from GPs in the ACT has led to an agreement from ACT Health to review the process that led to the approval of five pharmacy-based nurse practitioner positions in the territory. Local division of general practice chair Dr Rashmi Sharma last week met with ACT Health about GP concerns that approval of the positions for a planned Revive Clinic lacked consultation with two large GP practices near the planned site. "We understand ACT Health has put in motion an internal process to consider our concerns," Dr Sharma told Medical Observer. "The process for ...
THE Federal Government has given itself an official tick of approval for its attempts to cut red tape, despite its ongoing failure to release a streamlined MBS promised nearly a year ago. In its annual report released last week, the Health Department claimed it had met its performance indicator on simplifying the MBS, however frustrated GPs are still waiting to see the end results. The news comes just days after the department released its annual update of the MBS, which contained none of the promised changes to Level C and D item descriptors, nor the consolidation of ...
PHARMACISTS may push for the right to administer vaccinations – a move likely to exasperate GPs already concerned about the expanded role of nurse practitioners. Writing in the latest Pharmacy News , Pharmacy Guild president Kos Sclavos (pictured) called for appropriately trained pharmacists to be given a more hands-on role in the administering of the H1N1 vaccine. Pointing to the UK and US, where he claimed pharmacist vaccinations had been successful, Mr Sclavos suggested that allowing similar rights for pharmacists on home shores would create significant savings for the Federal Government. He also hinted at ...
Do you want to take action? Register your interest here DOCTORS planning to take a day off work in protest over the Federal Government’s health reforms have caught the attention of shadow health minister Peter Dutton, who has agreed to address a meeting of Sydney GPs next month. More than 150 GPs have signed up to take a day off on 9 November as part of a nationwide campaign that is being orchestrated by Sydney GP Dr Adrian Sheen. As ...
THE Federal Government is facing fresh accusations that it failed to consult local GPs during the implementation of its troubled GP super clinics policy, as concerns that services are being duplicated continue. The latest criticisms, from Perth-based division Osborne General Practice Network (OGPN), come as Health Minister Nicola Roxon revealed ongoing “difficulties” were being experienced in the tendering process for the $10 million super clinic for the Perth suburb of Wanneroo. The Minister also revealed that the department was currently investigating two official complaints relating to the tendering processes for two super clinic contracts that have already ...
DOCTORS’ groups are pushing to lock out fully independent nurse practitioners from accessing the MBS or PBS, arguing the rights should be reserved for those who co-locate with a GP or sign up to formal collaborative agreements. As the Senate prepares to debate the controversial legislation that will expand the role of nurse practitioners, GP representatives on the Government’s Nurse Practitioner Advisory Group are negotiating to establish a framework under which nurse practitioners will qualify for MBS and PBS rights. The framework is expected to ease widespread GP angst over recent moves by WA-based group Revive that ...
HEALTH Minister Nicola Roxon has been forced to publicly defend the Government’s GP super clinics bidding process, following claims that quality local bids were overlooked. Responding to questions at the RACGP Conference for General Practice in Perth last week, the minister said that while local tenders and interest were valuable, they did not always produce the best quality proposals. Ms Roxon’s comments followed a question from Professor Alistair Vickery, professor of general practice at the University of Western Australia, who criticised the tender process for the recently announced Midland GP super clinic in Perth. Professor Vickery ...
HEALTH Minister Nicola Roxon has issued a public warning to nurse practitioners who set up independently of team care arrangements, and has reassured GPs that new models of service will not fragment patient care. Addressing the RACGP Conference for General Practice in Perth last week, Ms Roxon told delegates the Government understood GP concerns and was keenly aware of the risks if the correct collaborative frameworks were not in place. “We are alive to this risk and do not intend to implement these changes in a manner that allows [fragmentation of patient care],” she said. “Business ...
When will Australia come up with a plan to deal with the looming tsunami of medical students? Rosemarie Milsom investigates. UNIVERSITY of Sydney medical faculty staff faced some awkward moments recently when interviewing prospective medical students from overseas. “We had to make a very crucial statement to them to say that we could not guarantee a training placement once they finished their degree,” faculty dean Professor Bruce Robinson says. “If you’ve come from Canada or Singapore and you’ve paid $50,000 a year to be here, to find out you might not have a place ...
DESPERATE to air their grievances about the state of healthcare, doctors are heading to the top, bypassing Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon and instead contacting the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd. The RDAA has encouraged rural doctors to take full advantage of Mr Rudd’s remote and rural healthcare system blog website, which seeks feedback on workforce issues and the Government’s health reform agenda. NSW South Coast GP Dr Brett Thomson, one of the rural doctors who have flooded Mr Rudd’s website, said GPs felt their views were being ignored in the Government’s push for health reform. “I ...
GP super clinics might not be a viable long-term business proposition, according to a leading health economist who has warned that the Government may be forced to prop up services in the future. Speaking at the recent GP Super Clinics Conference in Sydney, Professor Jim Butler, director of the Australian Centre for Economic Research on Health, criticised the controversial $275 million program which has seen operators receive multimillion-dollar grants in exchange for guaranteeing services for 20 years. Given the private sector had not established equivalent services, this could indicate super clinics may not be the best solution ...
PHARMACISTS will be pushing for $1 billion in federal funding for pharmacy programs and services when negotiations for the Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement commence later this year, though their requests may face stiff opposition from Health Minister Nicola Roxon. Under the current agreement, pharmacists received $500 million over five years to provide services such as home medication reviews. However, Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) vice-president Dr Shane Jackson (PhD) said funding needed to double if pharmacists were to be adequately paid for their work. “If we can establish [these activities] are improving outcomes for consumers and reducing ...
HEALTH Minister Nicola Roxon (pictured) has vowed to make practice nursing a top career choice for nursing graduates. Speaking at the APNA’s inaugural ‘The Right Stuff’ conference in Melbourne at the end of last month, Ms Roxon addressed the conference’s 300 delegates to assure them nurses were an integral part of the future primary health care landscape. Leaving behind the threat of swine flu and the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting on 30 April, Ms Roxon was given a helping hand onto the stage at the APNA conference after tearing a ligament in her ...
READERS of UK medical journal The Lancet may be surprised to learn that one of Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon’s admirers is none other than AMA president Dr Rosanna Capolingua. Despite having clashed with Ms Roxon many times over health system reform, Dr Capolingua described the Minister as “deeply committed and hardworking”. “[Ms Roxon] has performed well in what is a diverse and demanding portfolio. She would easily rank among the top performers in the Rudd ministry,” Dr Capolingua said. Speaking to MO , Dr Capolingua acknowledged there had been periods when the ...
THE AMA has launched a scathing attack on the government, accusing it of using red tape to limit health expenditure. In a recent submission to the Productivity Commission review of social and economic infrastructure service regulations, the AMA claimed that, while cutting red tape would free up doctors to see more patients, it would ultimately cost more, and go against the Government’s cost neutrality principles. “[The] Commonwealth Government uses red tape as a blunt rationing mechanism to discourage medical practitioners from providing more services and in some cases actively limiting the number of services [they] can provide ...
AFTER a year of locking horns with doctors over sweeping primary care reforms, federal health minister Nicola Roxon has started 2009 on a more conciliatory note, reassuring GPs that they will remain the first contact point for patients. This pacifying statement came as she spent a day shadowing RACGP president Dr Chris Mitchell, and is in stark contrast to previous suggestions of financial penalties for GPs who do not embrace the Rudd government’s reform agenda. At the start of the day, Ms Roxon said she expected the time would help cement her understanding of general practice and ...
WHEN health minister Nicola Roxon visited Grafton to talk about a $5 million super clinic, more than 150 residents came to listen. It was the largest turnout to such a consultation to date, and hearing these residents talk about health services, it’s no surprise why. Local GPs closed their books years ago, forcing newcomers to present at the Grafton Base Hospital emergency department for even the most minor of illnesses. An inevitable revolving door situation has developed, where chronically ill patients are patched up and discharged, only to deteriorate and return. Those with a GP will ...
What’s the hold-up on a national, linked electronic health system? Kathryn Eccles finds out. BEING called to hospital at 2 am to assess a patient with chest pain is part of an average week for Dr Peter Rischbieth. At his most recent early morning call-out, the RDAA president would have been forced to rely on a 73-year-old patient and her relatives for a medical history were it not for his computerised practice. But a few clicks of the mouse were all that was needed to compare the patient’s current ECG with one from a month ...