LATEST ARTICLES
Beneath the Drapes. December 2007
Mr Kevin Taylor has been appointed Group Director Corporate Services of St John of God Health Care. He was previously CEO of SJOG Pathology. Also at St John's, Mr Bryan Pyne has been named Group Director Finance after three years with the group.
Prof Moyez Jiwa and the team at the WA Cancer and Palliative Care Centre have won the Curtin University Vice-Chancellor's 2007 Award for Excellence.
Mr Martin Blake has been appointed as non-executive director of Resonance Health following Mr Guy Aird's resignation...
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Beneath the Drapes. November 2007
The following awards were presented by the RACGP to WA medicos at their 50th Annual Scientific Convention in Sydney:
Kalamunda GP Dr Howard Watts was recognised with the Rose-Hunt Award, RACGP's most prestigious honour, which acknowledged Dr Watts' 39 years of service in promoting the aims and objectives of the RACGP.
Dr Tim Leahy, a GP from the Aboriginal Health Council of WA, and the Heart Foundation's Ms Lynette Dimer were awarded the Standing Strong Together Award in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health. They each receive an educational scholarship worth $2500.
Fremantle Family Doctors won the 2007 WA General Practice of the Year Award...Read More...
November 2007
The secret list: part 2 Remember the secret backscratch list of top referring GPs allegedly held by...
October 2007
Payout for "hostile" medico's sacking
The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission has recommended that Derbarl Yerrigan Health Service (DYHS) apologise and pay compensation to Dr Julie Copeman for terminating her employment at a Perth clinic in 2004, allegedly for lobbying about colleagues' workplace conditions as an AMA rep. They found DYHS was frustrated that Dr Copeman had discussed her colleagues' complaints in a forceful, open manner that was "interpreted as being hostile". The Commission recommended DYHS pay Dr Copeman $76,185 compensation for emotional hurt and lost income.
Primary scuttle Symbion/Healthscope merger
Primary Health Care has used its recently acquired 20% stake in Symbion to scuttle the long-expected Symbion/Healthscope merger. Although 99.2% of voters (representing 73.9 % of total shares) were in favour, the requirement to meet a share vote of 75% was stymied by Primary. Healthscope and Symbion are now "discussing other options".
Addiction Medicine fellowships
Tony Abbott has signed off on Addiction Medicine being recognised as a specialty...
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Beneath the Drapes. October 2007
Dr Ryan Wallman has followed his dream and taken up a full time position as a health writer with Wellmark Communications in Melbourne. Prior to the interstate move, Ryan worked with Subiaco Community Mental Health as a psychiatric medical officer and was a freelance member of the Medical Forum team. We wish him every success in his new role!
Joondalup Health Campus DON Liz Prime is on leave while she competes as the Labor candidate for the seat of Cowan against Graeme Edwards. Dr Richard Saker, originally from Perth, is the new director of medical services at JHC, replacing ED specialist Dr Brad Power who was filling the position part time.
Ms Peta Wootton has started as Manager, Community Mental Health as part of...
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Specialist Fees – Need for More Transparency
In a nutshell, the results showed. Read More...
September 2007
EasyClaim slow
WA doctors are not racing to embrace the federal government's Easy Claim system. In theory, the good idea of allowing people to claim Medicare rebates at the same time as they pay their doctor's bill has been outweighed by the extra time in processing and the need for additional staff. The AMA has put forward a proposal that doctors be paid $1 for every claim made - pharmacists and banks receive a transaction fee. As a side issue, it was reported in the Financial Review that a number of senior AMA policy staff dealing with electronic health had resigned following the election of Dr Rosanna Capolingua.
Diluted WA health dollar
A report by the Federal Government shows that in 2005-2006, WA spent $3.5 billion in health (an increase of $170m) but due to a rising population this equated to $118 less per person than the preceding year (but still $894 per person, the second highest). The report also showed that the average number of beds per 1000 population fell 0.1 to 2.5 and the average waiting time for procedures increased by one day.
Thanks for the mammaries
Through years of IVF treatment (and afterwards), Busselton woman Sarah O'Brien struggled... Read More...