twrama 1841_august_2.. - AMA WA

AMA IN THE MEDIA
PATIENTS WAITING TO SEE
SPECIALIST DOUBLES
AMA president Richard Choong said he
welcomed greater transparency but believed
the numbers were underestimated because
they did not include referrals at secondary
hospitals or non-surgical cases referred to
tertiary hospital outpatient clinics.
“This gives a bird’s-eye view but we would
like to see more detail, including a breakdown
of waiting lists for surgical specialties, and we're
keen to work with the Government to improve
waiting lists and times,” Dr Choong said.
“In particular we need to improve the
integration between GPs and hospitals so that
we don't have all these thousands of patients
suffering pain while waiting months for their
outpatient appointments.”
The West Australian, 30 August 2012
PUSH TO BOOT FAST FOOD OFF
SPORTS FIELDS
Australian Medical Association (WA)
president Richard Choong said the WA
survey results showed people did not want
fast food companies on junior sports fields.
“I don’t want my young daughter to be used
as a marketing tool by the fast food industry
carrying a multitude of negative images when
she plays junior sports,” he said.
The West Australian, 11 August 2012
NEW MEDICAL SCHOOL HOPE
HITS HURDLE
AMA WA president Richard Choong said
his concern was how the system would cope
with even more medical students. “Already
the system is struggling to deal with interns
and offer career pathways, and we don't
have enough assurances from governments
they will meet the training demands for the
existing students,” he said.
The West Australian, 10 August 2012
DISSOLVABLE STENT A LIFE SAVER
“This one simple innovation will change lives,
extend lives - it will increase the enjoyment that
many people get from life itself,” State AMA
president Richard Choong said.
The West Australian, 8 August 2012
TV FLU AD MISLEADING, SAY
DOCTORS
Emergency medicine doctor and former
Australian Medical Association (WA)
president Dave Mountain said the campaign
could discourage sick people from going to
emergency departments and this could have
serious consequences.
“We see a lot of people coming in with flurelated
illness who are very sick, and they're
not people needing to be given a tissue to
blow their nose,” he said.
“They're coming in with pneumonia or
because their heart failure has worsened, or
they're frail and elderly and can't cope with
a flu-like illness. People can become so sick
they don't know if they just have a dose of the
flu or have raging pneumonia.”
Dr Mountain said while patients were
advised to see their GP where possible,
sometimes it was hard to get in straight away,
and it was dangerous to suggest
people feeling very unwell stay home.
The West Australian, 28 July 2012
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44 MEDICUS August