Author: healthprofessionalradio

Overview

• In South Australia, a surge in influenza cases has been reported. The state’s Health Minister Jack Snelling is urging people to get their vaccinations.

• The Federal Government is considering contracting independent medical experts to examine disability pensioners and assess their eligibility for payments.

• In Tasmania, the state government has given no indication as to when construction work for the Royal Hobart Hospital will resume.

Overview

• WA’s Health Department has refused to release info regarding an internal investigation into staff who accepted gifts and trips from drug companies.

• In SA, there are worries some vulnerable women and young people will stop seeking help from health services after a disruption in services in the state.

• The Health Minister Peter Dutton has compared the health system to an outdated Holden Kingswood, saying Australia is relying on a 1980s Medicare model.

Overview

• A new CEO has been appointed for the NT health department. Dr Len Notaras was head of the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre and before that GM of the Royal Darwin Hospital.

• The Rural Doctors Association of Queensland (RDAQ) thinks the proposed move to have nurses perform some doctors’ tasks will not help regional practices.

• In Tasmania, several hundred paramedics have been awarded a significant pay increase, but the State Government may yet appeal the wage rises.

Overview

• In NSW, a group of nurses from Maitland were told by council authorities to leave a community event for handing out a petition. Members of the New South Wales Nurses and Midwives Association had been approved to set up a stall at Steamfest.

• A new report by the Grattan Institute says public hospitals could save nearly $430 million a year by having nurses perform some tasks currently done by doctors.

• The Cancer Council of South Australia has seen a rise of over 40 per cent in the number of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy treatments in regional South Australia.

Overview

• AN Australian aircraft involved in the hunt for Malaysia Airlines flight 370 picked up a possible fifth signal yesterday in the search zone where previous signals consistent with the plane’s black box were detected.

• AUSTRALIAN Prime Minister Tony Abbott has been criticised in front of a high-powered crowd in Washington DC for cutting the nation’s foreign aid budget.

• An amoeba parasite that causes potentially fatal dysentery in poor countries wreaks its havoc by eating intestinal cells alive, according to scientists.