Author: healthprofessionalradio

Overview:
• Chief Minister Adam Giles announced a new five-year contract with St John Ambulance which is worth $149 million over five years. A new injection of funding which will mean more staff and vehicles for the organisation.

• Chiropractors around the country have been making claims they can prevent caesarean births, treat diabetes, cure cancer and even fight the flu. Medical professionals are worried the practice could be potentially dangerous for patients.

• The Cancer Relief Society in PNG says many Papua New Guinean women living in remote areas don’t recognise the warning signs of cervical cancer, and often blame symptoms on sorcery.

Overview:
• More than a dozen medical graduates will complete their internship at Tamworth Hospital this year. The Hospital’s General Manager, Catherine Death, said a big part of keeping the interns in Tamworth long-term was making sure all training could happen locally.

• Concerns were raised in the state’s far west this week following a series of days where the temperature rose above 40 degrees in parts of the region. The Department of Family and Community Services said it was reviewing the policy, but in a statement said it would be “inappropriate to speculate” on when the review might be finished.

• University of Canberra researcher Roopika Sodhi is looking for volunteer research participants to take part in a 26-week study assessing changes in their pain and disability when undertaking a course in Pilates.

Overview:
• The Federal Government has pledged $1 million to set up a “critical response” project to tackle Indigenous suicide in Western Australia, as advocates warn the state has one of the worst rates across the nation.

• The New South Wales government is reviewing a policy of not installing air conditioning in public housing, three years after an Aboriginal leader in the state’s far west warned people could “perish” in sweltering conditions. There are believed to be around a dozen AHO homes in Wilcannia with no cooling, despite temperatures in the town routinely climbing above 40 degrees over summer.

• The University of Tasmania’s Centre for Rural Health surveyed 30 GPs in South Australia, Queensland and Tasmania, and found only 18 were confident “within their scope of practice” of providing dental treatment and advice. The research published by the Medical Journal of Australia showed some of the GPs were embarrassed by their lack of training in the field.

Overview:
• Sierra Leone’s Government has urged the public not to panic as it announced more than 100 people had been quarantined following a new death from Ebola, just as the country seemed to have overcome the epidemic. The World Health Organisation on Friday confirmed that a 22-year-old woman, who died after falling ill near the Guinean border last week.

•  The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention have issued a travel warning for 14 countries and territories in the Caribbean and Latin America where infection with Zika, a mosquito-borne virus, is a risk. Particularly pregnant women not to travel to those areas.

• One person has been left brain-dead and three others face irreversible brain damage after taking part in a new medication meant to treat mood disorders such as anxiety developed by the Portuguese pharmaceutical company Bial, in France.

Overview:
• Brisbane City Council has named and shamed a number of food venues – bakeries, restaurants and fast food chains, that failed to comply with its EatSafe food safety guidelines, were prosecuted and fined $622,500 last year.

• The National Centre for Farmer Health (NCFH) is concerned about the community left behind when an Australian farmer commits suicide. The centre has developed a website designed to reduce the stigma experienced by those communities, and has recently launched new initiatives such as pre-paid postcards, the recruitment of community champions and a digital storytelling workshop.

• Nurses are concerned staffing ratios for the Riverina’s new Rural Referral Hospital in Wagga Wagga are inadequate, and are appealing to residents not to add to the pressure. About 100 nurses met with management this week to voice concerns over safety and staffing ratios at the hospital, which opens on Monday.

Overview:
• A man who allegedly shot a police officer and a security guard outside a Sydney hospital, following a scuffle in which he grabbed the officer’s gun, has been charged with shooting with intent to murder.

•  There is no evidence treatments at Australia’s first dedicated hangover clinic work, the Australian Medical Association has said, raising concerns that the business could encourage people to binge drink. The Sydney-based facility offers IV fluids, pain relief, vitamins and oxygen to patients who are feeling the ill effects of too much alcohol.

• Canberra has been spared the forecasted “Godzilla” hayfever season thanks to a well-timed burst of wet weather, however certain people are more likely than others to suffer. The project’s head Simon Haberle said certain occupations were more likely to experience hayfever symptoms.

Overview:
• The National Health Co-op has moved to permanently remove children’s toys from waiting rooms in its six medical clinics across Canberra. Managing director Adrian Watts stated that toy rooms at medical centres were a breeding ground for germs.

• Barwon Health’s website has been taken down after it was apparently hacked on Tuesday morning. The Victorian health service’s website was replaced by a pro-Palestinian message claiming the website was hacked by Akram Stelle.

• The Ambulance Alternate Pathways pilot program aiming to free up space in hospital emergency departments will be rolled out in Newcastle in the months ahead. It involves paramedics referring non-emergency patients to general practitioners where appropriate.