The royal commission’s interim report, ominously titled Neglect, was released on 31 October. A great early Christmas present for all Australians, chosen especially with the government in mind. In response, Prime Minister Scott Morrison joined Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck, ...
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Protecting healthcare workers from violent attacks
According to the World Health Organization, between eight and 38 per cent of healthcare workers suffer physical violence at some point in their careers and many more are threatened or exposed to verbal aggression.1 An Australian study of 9,951 doctors ...
More »Innovation, not ratios the key to fixing aged care: chief executive
“Ratios, ratios, ratios. Everybody will tell you that.” This was the response of aged care resident Merle Mitchell earlier this year at the royal commission when asked to nominate one thing she would change in the sector given the chance. ...
More »Public health physician discusses how hospitals can tackle climate change
This week climate change has been thrust to the forefront of national debate with catastrophic fires engulfing parts of the nation. Australian summers already have devastating health effects on the community each year and the health system comes under increasing ...
More »Balance of power: the nurses representing you in Canberra
Few nurses have served in the Australian Federal Parliament in recent memory. There was Judith Adams, elected in 2004, who represented WA in the senate until her death from cancer in 2012. And until Ged Kearney came along in 2018, closely followed ...
More »The rise of precarious care
Perhaps the most damaging side effect of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety is that instead of dealing with the problems of the aged care system, we have a de facto policy of ‘wait and see’. Actions ...
More »Government announces long term health blueprint, Medicare priorities
The government has released Australia’s Long-Term National Health Plan, promising to make the health system “the world’s number one”. “The story of health in Australia is sometimes viewed through the prism of large numbers, such as $435 billion for the ...
More »Do we still need unpaid carers in a competitive aged care market?
Is the unpaid assistance provided in the main by family caregivers or other close relatives, friends or associates still necessary, or have carers become a problem? Do they require a new specialised management approach to ensure they don’t get in ...
More »After the gold rush: the history of The Women’s Hospital in Melbourne
The 1850s was a period of immense change in Melbourne. The rush for gold was frantic and in the period between 1850 and 1860 half a million people descend on the area, which only officially came to be known as Melbourne ...
More »The cost of chronic disease in Australia: ABC’s 7.30 report
In the years 2017–18, just over 47 per cent of Australians had one or more chronic conditions. This is an increase of five per cent from the 2007–08 figures of just over 42 per cent. Chronic disease accounts for 37 per ...
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