Invasive meningococcal disease: a patchwork of protection leaves Australians at risk
Why is it that different states and territories have different policies on meningococcal B vaccination?
Opinions
Mental health in crisis: Australia cannot wait
For almost two decades, the Australian Medical Association’s Public Hospital Report Card has tracked the health of our public hospital system, and in the past four years, dedicated mental health editions of the report have highlighted the unique challenges patients face when accessing mental healthcare in public hospitals.
Beyond the delay: a systems approach to releasing diagnostic results
I write in support of the timely article by Stephen and Sarah Duckett (“Should there be a delay in releasing diagnostic results to patients?"), which identifies the mandatory 7-day delay as a policy that warrants re-examination. The authors have laid out the foundational issues, but the problems with this delay extend even further when viewed through the additional lenses. These principles are particularly important today, as the healthcare system rightly encourages individuals to move from being passive recipients of care to active managers of their own wellbeing.
Updated MS criteria help clinicians diagnose earlier and with more confidence
The updated McDonald Diagnostic Criteria for MS have now been published, offering clinicians new tools to support earlier diagnosis, reduce uncertainty, and improve outcomes for Australians affected by the disease. Adoption into clinical practice is expected to follow as awareness and access to diagnostic tools grow.
Diagnostic error is prevalent, harmful and costly — Australia must take diagnostic safety seriously
It’s time for national policy that puts diagnostic safety on the agenda, and drives real change to prevent errors before more patients are harmed, write Laura Chien, Mary Dahm and Jen Morris.
Coercive control puts children at risk of emotional abuse and long-term mental illness
Children’s experience of domestic violence is commonly framed in the context of physical violence; however, new research highlights how parental coercive control plays a critical role in shaping long-term wellbeing.
Your brilliant career: how new WHS laws protect every doctor
Amid unprecedented medical workforce pressures, many doctors are rethinking their futures. Yet new WHS laws provide the tools to protect our wellbeing and our careers — if we use them. This piece urges every doctor to lead by example: know the law, speak up about poor working conditions and other abuses safely, and advocate for better health system resourcing — together.
The World Medical Association and the ageing physician
As our population ages, so too do our doctors. But ageing physicians should still play an active and leading role in our health care workforce, writes Steve Robson.
Australian Asthma Handbook: treatments are changing for adults and adolescents
The latest edition of the Australian Asthma Handbook offers pathways to improvement for asthma control, urging clinicians and their patients to move beyond over-reliance on SABA inhalers in favour of inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)-containing preventer inhalers.
