Annual Report 2010 - ACEM

29
ACEM AR 2010
FACulTY REPORTs
continued
around before you know it. so mark your
calendars for a visit to our beautiful state!
Brian Doyle, Chair
Victoria
The last year has seen a number of
interesting events and challenges for the
faculty in Victoria.
The most significant of these was the
staging of the Annual scientific Meeting
held in Melbourne in November of 2009.
This was an extremely well attended event,
with a great program and a conference
dinner that will be remembered for
years to come. it also set a benchmark in
being the ‘greenest’ emergency medicine
conference held to date.Again, thanks
and congratulations go to Di Egerton-
Warburton and the organising committee
for their great efforts.We are all looking
forward to seeing what the team in the
ACT can do.
There was also a changing-of-the-guard at
board level.After two years of dedicated
and passionate service, David Eddey stepped
down as the Faculty Chair. Mary Buchanan
handed over theTreasurer’s position to
EmmaWest,Thomas Chan was superseded
by Julia Fisher as secretary and Fergus Kerr
was newly elected as a board member.
Attendance at the faculty meetings
fluctuates, but the dedication of those
who attend in contributing to the
evolution and expansion of emergency
medicine in Victoria is impressive.
The main issue on the agenda has been
the National Access Target ( the ‘4 hour
rule’) but many other issues have stirred
debate, including workforce levels,
relationships with Ambulance Victoria and
the emergence of the Victorian Emergency
Physicians Association (VEPA).
The faculty also reconvened the directors
meeting.All directors of accredited
departments were invited to attend and
this promises to be a positive initiative.
The Victorian scientific Meeting was
held at southern Health on election
day - the day we couldn’t decide who
was going to manage the public hospital
system for the next three years.This
was an excellent meeting and will be the
stepping stone for a bigger event next
year.The faculty is discussing the merits
of taking the pressure off individual health
services in hosting this event and moving
to a centralised meeting with a diverse
organising committee.
The main issue we are facing in Victoria is
the decision by the Federal Government
to introduce the 4-hour national target.
Debate continues as to its pros and
cons, but we remain hopeful that with a
proper understanding of the problems
that contribute to access block and the
injection of funds into the right areas by
the Department of Health, this may be a
positive change.We are asking all of our
Fellows to contribute to this debate and
our Directors to come up with models of
care that we feel are most appropriate for
the Victorian health system. Meetings with
the Health Minister have, so far,
been positive.Watch this space …
Simon Judkins, Chair
Western Australia
The WA Faculty has been active in a
number of areas, including: Healthy Roads,
WA Donation and Transplant Advisory
Committees and WA Careers Expo -
attended by medical students and junior
medical staff.
We held a very successful annual seminar
in May 2010. This was run by Royal Perth
Hospital and had over 80 registrants.
Our thanks go to Michelle Johnston
for organising this. Next year’s seminar
is being coordinated by swan District
Hospital using the facilities of
Notre Dame university.
A significant number of metropolitan based
Fellows are providing clinical services to
regional hospitals on a fly-in, fly-out basis.
Our Fellows have been very positively
received by these hospitals.There remains
considerable difficulty attracting and
retaining Fellows to live and work in
regional centres, particularly Bunbury.
The faculty position on the 4 hour rule
is one of qualified engagement.A number
of our Fellows are actively engaged in
the implementation of these processes.
We have emphasised the importance of
adequate resourcing behind these changes.
Appropriate quality measures have been
implemented to monitor the changes to
our services.To date, the teaching hospitals
are rarely meeting the target compliance
goals, although a number of Fellows report
significant reduction in access block and
improved working conditions in the
departments.The metropolitan general
hospitals are currently in the early stages
of implementation of these new processes.
it is too early to say how effective these
changes have been.
We are very pleased to acknowledge the
election of David Mountain to President
of the WA Branch of the AMA. David
has contributed extensively to the
development and promotion of
emergency medicine in this state.
i would like to extend my thanks to
Adam Coulson for his efforts as the
previous Chair of the WA Faculty.
Robert Graydon, Chair