Archived News for Health Sector Professionals - July, 2011
The national peak body for not-for-profit aged care providers, Aged and Community Services Australia (ACSA) has announced plans to pursue a merger with the for-profit peak, Aged Care Association Australia (ACAA).
ACSA President Klaus Zimmermann said the ACSA Board has resolved to seek support of its State members for a merged national body. It is proposed that the existing State Associations of ACSA and ACAA become the members of the new national entity.
“The merger or restructure of our organisation has been an ongoing debate for many years,” Mr Zimmermann said.
“The Government’s commitment to reform the aged care system and the Productivity Commission inquiry provided an unprecedented impetus to resolve the issue once and for all.
“The proposed Productivity Commission reforms will require consensus and support from all stakeholders including consumers, providers, health professionals and government.
“Aged care providers will be at the forefront of the reforms and a new national peak will help provide a stronger focus for the industry.”
In the past 12 months ACSA has investigated a range of options for restructure and consulted members widely.
“Maintaining a federation of states with a merged national peak emerged as the preferred option following a recent member survey undertaken by McGregor Tan Research,” Mr Zimmermann said.
The ACSA membership will be asked to vote on the proposed merger at a general meeting in November this year.
“ACSA will also build on its strong links with ACAA to pursue the goal of a single voice for aged care.”
A taskforce of three ACSA Board members will oversee the transition process to a new organisation.
Consortium appointed to implement e-health records system
A consortium headed by McKinsey and Company has been selected to lead the national change and adoption process as Australia moves to introduce Personally Controlled Electronic Health Records (PCEHR) next year.
Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, said the National Change and Adoption Partner will help educate and support the training and information needs of the health workforce who will use the system.
“The consortium will plan, design and develop training, guidance and tools in collaboration with clinicians and software providers. It will also provide change management support for clinicians including at the 12 lead implementation sites.
Review of human cloning and embryo research legislation released
The Minister for Mental Health and Ageing Mark Butler has released the Report of the Independent Review of the Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproduction Act 2002 and the Research Involving Human Embryos Act 2002.
Mr Butler said the independent Review Committee, chaired by the Hon Peter Heerey QC, had indicated its view that the basic structure of the legislation should remain, while making recommendations about the framework for human embryo research.
“The 33 recommendations that were produced relate largely to updating and clarifying the legislation, or keeping existing requirements. The recommendations reflect the Committee’s careful consideration of more than 260 submissions, as well as information provided in appearances before the Committee," Mr Butler said.
“The legislative framework will need to continue to balance the needs of health and medical researchers, who aim to improve human health, with the social and ethical challenges in human embryo research."
The Report of the Independent Review of the Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproduction Act 2002 and the Research Involving Human Embryos Act 2002 can be found at www.legislationreview.nhmrc.gov.au.
$43 billion generated by health care businesses
Health care businesses generated $43 billion in income, and spent over $32 billion on expenses, according to a report released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Australia's private sector health care businesses operated from 101,725 locations providing medical and other health care to 22.3 million people.
These businesses employed or contracted 188,000 registered practitioners and other health care professionals, at the end of June 2010, with a further 145,000 other staff providing support for the same period.
Primary health care services (general practitioner, specialist and dental services) operated from 68,877 locations with the majority of these services (over 75%) located in capital cities and suburbs.
Primary health care services employed or contracted 111,000 registered practitioners and other health care professionals and saw 6 million patients in an average working week.
Further information is in Health Care Services, Australia 2009-10 (cat. no 8570.0).
New chair for Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee
Doctor Suzanne Hill has been appointed as the new chair of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC), the independent advisory group which recommends listing of medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).
Health Super and First State merge
The merger of public sector superannuation fund, First State Super with Health Super on 30 June 2011 has created a super fund with over $30 billion and more than 770,000 members.
Funding for WA country hospital upgrades
The Western Australian Government has announced that $147 million will be spent upgrading six country hospitals, the largest single investment in regional healthcare in WA’s history, according to the Premier Colin Barnett.
New health programs underway with new financial year
The beginning of the new financial year marks the commencement of a number of the Federal Government’s initiatives under the national health reform program.
Tender for WA Children's Hospital awarded
The design and construction tender for Western Australia’s new $1.2billion children’s hospital has been awarded to John Holland.
Research collaboration to develop next-generation medicines
Two of The University of Queensland's (UQ) leading researchers have teamed with the world's largest biopharmaceutical company to develop new peptide-based medicines for the treatment of major diseases.
New building for Westmead research institute
The Westmead Millennium Institute for Medical Research in Sydney is to be housed under one roof in a new $135 million building.