AMAV VICDOC SUMMER 2023 - Magazine - Page 18
FEATURE
RESPONSE TO THE MEN TAL
HEALT H AND WELLBEING ACT
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AMA Victoria has provided
a submission to the Victorian
Department of Health in
response to its discussion paper
on the development of a new
Mental Health and Wellbeing Act.
Upon review of the paper,
we conveyed to the Department
significant concerns on
multiple levels. Our overarching
perspective is that the proposed
Act does not empower doctors to
treat highly vulnerable, severely
ill patients in the best way
possible and that this sentiment
is shared equally by doctorsin-training, psychiatrists and
other specialists alike. Further,
we noted that coupled with
the burdensome compliance
requirements mooted by the
Engagement Paper, if the Mental
Health and Wellbeing Act is
implemented as proposed, the
predictable result is that there
will be further attrition in the
mental health workforce.
We communicated to the
Department that we believe
that the proposals do not
meet the Royal Commission’s
recommendations about the
objectives and principles of
the new Act because:
»the whole-time frame is too
hastily constructed.
»the process to date has been
totally lacking in expert
psychiatrist and senior
clinician involvement and
urgently needs expertise from
people with extensive practical
experience in use of the Act.
»any revised Act needs to
provide genuine approaches
and solutions to the challenges
people face when they are
at their most vulnerable with
serious mental illness, not just
a principles-based approach
divorced from a practical
understanding of the depth of
challenges involved in utilising
such legislation.
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AMA VI C TO RIA
We also noted that we would
have been pleased if these
proposals lived up to what the
Royal Commission was meant to
achieve. However, we informed
the Department that this can
only occur if the Department
genuinely take the time and
the depth of consideration to
develop a Mental Health Act that
involves proper involvement of
the profession and consideration
of all approaches.
Moreover, we relayed that
funding, patient environments,
resources, training, staffing and
practices should all be developed
before making drastic changes
to existing legislation. Further,
we noted that in the context of
systemic underfunding, limited
staffing and people leaving
the system, overly idealistic
principles-based proposals only
add to the damage and create
new difficulties and impact
negatively on the care that
patients receive.
If you would like a copy
of our full submission,
please contact Senior Policy
Adviser, Lewis Horton, at
LewisH@amavic.com.au
HEALTH AND HUMAN
SERVICES CLIMATE CHANGE
ADAP TATION ACTION PLAN
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In late July, AMA Victoria,
along with a range of other
interested stakeholders in the
healthcare sector, met with the
Victorian Department of Health
to discuss the draft Health
and Human Services Climate
Change Adaptation Action Plan.
The Draft Health and Human
Services Climate Change AAP
2022-26 addresses the impacts
of climate change and proposes
14 strategic actions that
Victoria’s Health and Human
Services system can take
during the next five years to
address current climate change
impacts, reduce barriers to
adaptation planning and action,
and lay the foundations for
transformational adaptation.
We expressed our support
for actions to secure climateresilient health infrastructure
and expressed our view
that such measures provide
opportunities to realise health
co-benefits through adaptation
measures that mitigate
emissions and provide many
additional social and
economic benefits.
We also raised the possibility
of Victoria adopting an
equivalent to the UK Greener
NHS Program which has a
Net Zero strategy and uses
a comprehensive carbon
footprint mapping strategy
looking at both direct and
indirect emissions to target
their interventions.
We have also provided a
written submission to the
Department on the draft Health
and Human Services Climate
Change Adaptation Action Plan.
Click here to read it.
MEETING WITH VICTORIAN
HEALTH MINISTER
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AMA Victoria recently met
with the Victorian Health
Minister, Martin Foley, and
expressed our desire to work
constructively with the Victorian
Government in continuing
to respond to the COVID-19
pandemic and in building an
improved health system in a
post-COVID Victoria.
To this end, we expressed to
the Minister that key to us in
improving our health system is:
»Addressing the very real
difficulties that exist in
public hospital access
(acknowledging that
ambulance ramping and
crowded emergency
departments are just
perhaps the most visible
manifestations of wider
system failure).