September 2004 Monday 27 September 2004 1. RWAV Board The board resolved that Wendy Bissinger be renominated for the RWAV Board.
Nola and Bill reported on the discussion about the WA SBO at the SBO meeting in Adelaide. Duncan Steed and June Foulds gave an account of the events leading to the collapse of GPDWA and of their negotiations with DoHA about how the SBO role will now be performed. The work on specific programs (MH, Immunisation, Aged Care) has been distributed amongst three WA divisions, as DoHA will fund only two staff in an 'Interim SBO' for which ADGP will hold the funds and employ staff in a 'branch office'.
John Meaney reported on the summit on the "Future sustainability of general practice". There had been no resolutions on the day, which took the form of an open forum. The communiqué from the second day's discussions in closed session illustrated the difficulty of relying on the GPRG to advance a reform agenda. AMA speakers had appeared conciliatory on the day and joined in the communiqué but the AMA later condemned the NZ approach to budget-holding.
Members commented that GPs are being asked to make judgements with no evidence and to provide completely irrelevant information such as the GPs registration number, while not addressing the real issue of whether the patient is able to use pubic transport. The form appears to be red tape designed to discourage applications. The board agreed to refer this again to the Victorian GP Alliance and to work with Disability Services and consumer agencies to have the issue addressed.
Melinda updated the board on the Broadband program. She is currently preparing the first monthly report. By the end of September she will have visited 20 of 30 divisions and presented at five practice manager/GP evenings. The main issues to date have been feedback to the Taskforce, which has responded to some and put others, among them the issue of the use of the second PIP payment to fund the Broadband Program, on hold due to the current 'care taker' mode of government. The process to consult on phase 2 is on hold until after the election. DHS has sent the Taskforce a briefing paper and has proposed ways to integrate the Broadband Program and Victoria's ICT Networks. Members commented that this has been a major election stunt and that, because GPs are taking advantage of the subsidy to get satellite connections, the connection of broadband to small country towns is being delayed because a minimum critical mass of users is required to get Broadband in small towns. |