AMAV VICDOC SUMMER 2023 - Magazine - Page 4
F ROM THE P RES IDE N T
A TIME OF
TRANSITIONS
—
S
pring is all about ‘transitions’ and so
our new edition of Vicdoc tackles the
topic from a range of perspectives.
Whether you are a student preparing
to enter the workforce; an intern coping with, but
progressing in, working life; whether you are a
doctor deciding on a training specialty or moving
to a new location; or an older doctor considering
retirement; change is a fact of life. It is useful to
acknowledge and reflect on the significant role
‘transitions’ play in successfully navigating the
inevitable shifts that occur in life as we move
from one stage to another.
As a community, we have experienced so many
transitions throughout 2022 including the evolution
of our national and Victorian approach to the
management of COVID-19; the community re-set
post-lockdowns; and a new Federal Government.
We have mourned the loss of many people:
well-loved Australian icons; highly regarded
members of AMA Victoria; and only recently,
the end of an era was defined by the passing
of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
For the health system, transition is a continuous
imperative. It will need to undergo fundamental
change as it attracts the attention of state and
federal governments to discuss and plan for the
reform it so desperately needs. I hope that we can
bring politicians at a state and federal level on
this journey with us to understand the deep need
to reform our sector across physical and mental
health, as well as individualised treatment options;
and to appreciate the imperative to cast pure
politics aside and collaborate to resolve the deepseated issues within our health system. This will
be the only way we can transition to a system that
we can rely upon again; one in which we can work
in successfully again, thrive in and through which
we can deliver world-class care once again.
4
AMA VI C TO RIA
DR RODERICK McRAE
AMA Victoria President
STATE ELECTION CAMPAIGN
––
As you know, throughout 2022, AMA Victoria
has relentlessly campaigned for a healthcare-led
recovery for Victoria. In the lead up to the state
election, this campaign will continue.
In our view, a recovery-encompassing real,
planned investment into general practice, medical
mental health care, deferred and delayed care and
public hospitals- will lead not only medical recovery
for Victorians whose health has suffered during
the COVID-19 pandemic, but also steady economic
recovery through investment in essential health
infrastructure and services.
We were pleased that in its 2022-23 State Budget,
the Victorian Government unequivocally placed
health at the centre. Indeed, the State Government
admitted to us that it borrowed our rhetoric that
expenditure on health should not be seen as a drain
on Victoria’s finite resources, but instead as sound
economic policy and prudent investment.
This was indeed a great result for our members,
for all doctors, and for the community.
However, we are acutely aware that whilst the
government has prioritised billions of dollars of
new spending on health in the coming years, this
does not improve the critical situation healthcare
workers face on the ground right now- particularly
in public hospitals. This is a crisis which has built
up over decades due, in no small part, to a lack of
planning – both in terms of recognising increasing
demand and capacity constraints and planning
effectively for it; and a failure between federal
and state governments to co-operate to improve
and ready the interconnecting parts of the health
system for the demands we face today. Note the
recent debacle over management of an announced
public holiday!