The Australian Medical Association has released a new report urging that we shift from a “sickcare system to a healthcare” system. Amongst other things, the report highlights the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic shock in highlighting significant limitations in the capacity of Australia’s healthcare system to respond to a surge in demand.
“Despite having one of the most well-resourced healthcare systems globally, Australia was not adequately prepared for the scale and complexity of the COVID-19 pandemic,” says the report.
“Three years on from the onset of the pandemic, many general practices struggle to remain viable, public hospitals are operating at or over capacity, the nation is facing unprecedented workforce shortages, and there is a major backlog in elective care. Much of Australia’s pandemic response relied on the goodwill of healthcare workers ― a group who went above and beyond normal expectations to keep Australia safe ― which has led to a surge in healthcare worker burnout. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic is still impacting communities, and we are only beginning to understand the implications of long COVID.”
The report says Australia is not prioritising investment in capacity expansion to prepare for future events that could increase demand for healthcare services, while the absence of a dedicated national government agency to drive health workforce planning may be a contributor to the current workforce shortages. It notes that Health Workforce Australia ― the Commonwealth statutory authority that delivered a national, coordinated approach to health workforce planning and reform ― was abolished in 2014 and has not been replaced by a similar independent national agency.
Meanwhile, this week’s ICYMI column covers many related topics, including workforce matters, prevention news, and the impact of determinants of health beyond health services. In the United States, for example, researchers predict that thousands of lives will be lost due to US Supreme Court decisions on COVID-19 workplace protections, gun control and abortion rights.
The quotable?
There should be huge public health concern for gas processing and resultant air pollution less than three kilometres from suburban Darwin.”
Health alarm
The Federal and Northern Territory Governments can expect to face increasing pressure from health and medical experts concerned by the health implications of fracking in the Betaloo Basin and the Middle Arm development.
See this thread by Dr Kirsty Howey showing the proximity of residents.
Global health
Read more on the policy briefs, regarding digital platforms and other issues
This study, ‘Projected Health Outcomes Associated With 3 US Supreme Court Decisions in 2022 on COVID-19 Workplace Protections, Handgun-Carry Restrictions, and Abortion Rights’, suggests that over a decade, these three Supreme Court decisions will contribute to the loss of nearly 3,000 US lives and possibly many more.
Read the study from Chile: Restricting child-directed ads is effective, but adding a time-based ban is better: evaluating a multi-phase regulation to protect children from unhealthy food marketing on television 
Read the article on mental health reform in Chile. 
Read the article: A “cascade of crises” is putting global progress towards ensuring the rights of persons with disabilities in danger, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned on Tuesday in New York. 
Read the article from the US, Anti-trans bills and political climates are taking a significant mental health toll on trans and nonbinary people – even during Pride
From The Lancet: Teaching sustainable health care through the critical medical humanities 
Read: Google strikes deal with Mayo Clinic to comb patient records using generative AI
(what could possibly go wrong?!) 
From the US Surgeon General’s advisory on social connection 
See the article.
COVID
The Voice
Croakey editor Alison Barrett tweeted from an Australia Institute webinar – watch a recording here.
#AusPol
Read more about the aged care taskforce 
Prevention and public health
Read the AMA report.In the foreword, Professor Steve Robson writes: “The pervasive impact of poor health is widely acknowledged, yet governments continue to view healthcare as a cost to be managed, rather than an investment to be made ― a paradigm that has inadvertently shaped a ‘sickcare’ system rather than an holistic healthcare system that tackles both existing health issues and prioritises prevention. The time has come to reframe our thinking.”
Read the study on Twitter users 
King’s Birthday awards
A full list of the awards is here.
Events and opportunities
