AMA President Dr Danielle McMullen provides members with the latest from the national AMA.
Good morning and happy Friday!
With budget estimates underway and the House of Representatives sitting, it was the perfect week to be in Canberra meeting with MPs and key stakeholders to discuss the health challenges facing our nation.
I began the week by attending the launch of the RACGP's Health of the Nation report , which is a really useful snapshot of the state of general practice. The most striking finding for me was that the average GP consultation is now 19.7 minutes, and more than 20 minutes for female GPs - so in essence, a "long" consultation is now the norm.
Of course, this is no surprise to us. It demonstrates once again the need for urgent investment through Medicare to support longer GP consultations, as patients require increasingly complex healthcare. Rest assured, both the AMA and the RACGP continue to lobby governments heavily to understand the importance of modernising medicare to make it fit for purpose.
The launch event set the stage for an excellent week of strengthening our engagement with key decision makers up on the Hill.
I had a great meeting with Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John, where we covered everything from general practice, to workforce, to the new Centre for Disease Control legislation. He is deeply interested in the health portfolio and how we can work together to strengthen Australia's health system.
Vice President Julian Rait and I also met with Opposition leader Sussan Ley on Wednesday - a crucial opportunity to discuss the Opposition's approach to health policy across this term and into the next election. Having a strong opposition is an important part of a democratic system, and as always, we work with all sides of politics to make sure the voice of doctors is heard in the development and debate of policy.
We later hosted a dinner for the MPs who wear two hats - as both parliamentarians and doctors. Thank you to Dr Mike Freelander, Dr Sophie Scamps and Dr Monique Ryan for attending. It was an illuminating evening, filled with discussions about how we can work together to strengthen our healthcare system, from preventive health and MBS frustrations to aged care sustainability.
It wasn't just a week of meeting with MPs, however. There were plenty of other meetings on the agenda, including meeting with new Australian Pathology president Shaun Donovan, and with Advanced Pharmacy Australia, who reiterated their commitment to collaborative models of care.
We also had a meeting of our Council of Private Specialist Practice, where contracting between insurers and doctors continues to be a hot topic, along with how we can reform and support private maternity care.
I also enjoyed hosting the Cyber Awareness Webinar last night. It was a very informative session filled with many practical tips on how you can improve your cybersecurity - whether at your practice or at home. For those who didn't catch it, a recording will be available soon.
There are two particularly important updates from Ahpra you will read about in this week's Rounds.
Firstly, Ahpra has announced the title of "podiatric surgeons" will change to "surgical podiatrists" from October 2026. We commend Ahpra and the Podiatry Board of Australia for addressing this issue following sustained AMA advocacy. The title of "surgeon" should be reserved for medical practitioners with appropriate surgical training. However, we remain concerned that patients could still be confused by the new terminology. The whole idea behind changing the title is to help patients distinguish between who is a doctor and who isn't. The term "surgical" closely resembles "surgeon", which could continue to cause misunderstanding. We will continue to follow up on this matter with Ahpra. We also know there are other areas of practice requiring reform - particularly oral surgeons, who are often mistaken for oral maxillofacial surgeons. I reminded Ahpra of this again this week, and we'll keep the pressure on.
The other important update is Ahpra's updated telehealth guidance , which is aimed at protecting the doctor-patient relationship and closing loopholes exploited by single-issue online telehealth providers, such as those indiscriminately prescribing medicinal cannabis, or providing prescriptions without any meaningful consultation. It's important to recognise there has been little change for medical practitioners since our board updated this guidance earlier this year. This week's update mainly expands the guidance to other health professions.
Ahpra's updated guidance maintains that doctors should only prescribe for a patient they have consulted (either at the time or previously). There was some confusing wording in their initial press release including "face to face". We have confirmed with Ahpra that a consultation includes in-person, telephone and video where clinically appropriate (but not text based only). Ahpra has since updated the media release to clarify this. Since the COVID pandemic, telehealth has revolutionised healthcare. However, there are some opportunistic providers seeking to exploit this. It's essential we ensure telehealth and virtual care remain robust, with patient safety as the top priority.
And just a reminder - be sure to check our Consultation Hub on the AMA website to have your say on our active consultations. At the moment, we have two open: one on our revised international medical graduate position statement, and another on AMA members' experiences returning to work after a prolonged absence.
I look forward to updating you again next Friday!
