Sally Furniss
Well-known member
<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="topcell" bgcolor="#ffffff" valign="top" width="100%">GPs ignored in flu pandemic plan
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</td> </tr> <tr><td colspan="3" class="storycell" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <!-- PRINT_CONTENT_START --> The World Today - Wednesday, 28 May , 2008 12:50:00
Reporter: David Mark
ELEANOR HALL: A review of Australia's plans to fight an influenza pandemic has found they're flawed because they don't recognise the role of General Practitioners.
The ANU analysis compared Australia's preparedness for a bird-flu or similar pandemic to four other countries and found serious deficiencies in the Australian program.
As David Mark reports.
DAVID MARK: It's been 11 years since six people in Hong Kong died after contracting the H5N1 virus more commonly known as bird flu.
Since then more than 240 people have died from the disease.
That number may seem large, but it pales compared to the hundreds of thousands or millions that could die if the virus mutates and a pandemic takes hold.
Australia has a plan to fight a pandemic, but the Australian National University's Associate Professor Mohammed Patel, says it's flawed.
MOHAMMED PATEL: The national plan mentions general practice very infrequently besides, it's not the national plan that's the critical one here, it's the state plans.
Do they spell out very clearly how general practices will work with each other?
The answer is those details, operational details are not covered in the current plans.
DAVID MARK: Professor Patel has compared the plans of all state governments in Australia with similar strategies in Canada, New Zealand, Great Britain and the US and found Australia comes up short.
MOHAMMED PATEL: The first deficiency is that the key role of general practices is not highlighted and the likely reason is that the drivers in these plans are health departments, particularly those responsible from a population health perspective.
Health departments do the public health side, but the clinical practice is run by so called private small businesses which are General Practitioners.
The two are very poorly integrated in these plans.
ROD PEARCE: We've certainly felt that GPs haven't been involved in the planning.
DAVID MARK: Dr Rod Pearce is the Chairman of the Australian Medical Association's Council of General Practice.
ROD PEARCE: We're concerned that they're not recognising the role on general practice and they're not supporting GP's to be in the right place at the right time to actually influence the outcome of pandemic.
DAVID MARK: How might that affect Australia should a pandemic strike?
ROD PEARCE: The likely problem is that as GPs try to respond, we're not sure that they'll have all the medication available to protect them, we're not sure that the staff will actually be able to protect themselves.
We're not sure whether the liaison between the planned flu clinics and general practice will be strong enough.
We're not sure that our routine patients will actually have access to their services which need to go on in parallel to the treatment for influenza and we're not sure general practice will be able to deliver the high evidence and resources to support the community.
DAVID MARK: That's a lot of uncertainty.
ROD PEARCE: Yeah the uncertainly comes about principally because GPs haven't been central to the planning.
It's been acknowledged that GPs need to have a place but they haven't supported the involvement and the working with general practice and there is an opportunity to work with general practice to integrate their work with influenza in the planning for a pandemic and that opportunity so far has been missed.
DAVID MARK: What need to change?
ROD PEARCE: GPs need to be part of the planning process, which is part of the Federal Governments responsibility to work with general practice directly rather than just leaving it to the states to try ad hoc plans with their GPs.
Some states have been working with general practice, but it's not a uniform response across Australia and there hasn't been enough investment in the education, training and support for GPs both to understand what they need to do and also to be ready to respond.
ELEANOR HALL: That's the Chairman of the Australian Medical Association's Council of General Practice, Dr Rod Pearce, ending David Mark's report.
And the Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon was unavailable for an interview, but a spokesman said the Government does recognise the importance of primary care providers in responding to an influenza pandemic and is developing a training program.
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2008/s2258077.htm
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</td> </tr> <tr><td colspan="3" class="storycell" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <!-- PRINT_CONTENT_START --> The World Today - Wednesday, 28 May , 2008 12:50:00
Reporter: David Mark
ELEANOR HALL: A review of Australia's plans to fight an influenza pandemic has found they're flawed because they don't recognise the role of General Practitioners.
The ANU analysis compared Australia's preparedness for a bird-flu or similar pandemic to four other countries and found serious deficiencies in the Australian program.
As David Mark reports.
DAVID MARK: It's been 11 years since six people in Hong Kong died after contracting the H5N1 virus more commonly known as bird flu.
Since then more than 240 people have died from the disease.
That number may seem large, but it pales compared to the hundreds of thousands or millions that could die if the virus mutates and a pandemic takes hold.
Australia has a plan to fight a pandemic, but the Australian National University's Associate Professor Mohammed Patel, says it's flawed.
MOHAMMED PATEL: The national plan mentions general practice very infrequently besides, it's not the national plan that's the critical one here, it's the state plans.
Do they spell out very clearly how general practices will work with each other?
The answer is those details, operational details are not covered in the current plans.
DAVID MARK: Professor Patel has compared the plans of all state governments in Australia with similar strategies in Canada, New Zealand, Great Britain and the US and found Australia comes up short.
MOHAMMED PATEL: The first deficiency is that the key role of general practices is not highlighted and the likely reason is that the drivers in these plans are health departments, particularly those responsible from a population health perspective.
Health departments do the public health side, but the clinical practice is run by so called private small businesses which are General Practitioners.
The two are very poorly integrated in these plans.
ROD PEARCE: We've certainly felt that GPs haven't been involved in the planning.
DAVID MARK: Dr Rod Pearce is the Chairman of the Australian Medical Association's Council of General Practice.
ROD PEARCE: We're concerned that they're not recognising the role on general practice and they're not supporting GP's to be in the right place at the right time to actually influence the outcome of pandemic.
DAVID MARK: How might that affect Australia should a pandemic strike?
ROD PEARCE: The likely problem is that as GPs try to respond, we're not sure that they'll have all the medication available to protect them, we're not sure that the staff will actually be able to protect themselves.
We're not sure whether the liaison between the planned flu clinics and general practice will be strong enough.
We're not sure that our routine patients will actually have access to their services which need to go on in parallel to the treatment for influenza and we're not sure general practice will be able to deliver the high evidence and resources to support the community.
DAVID MARK: That's a lot of uncertainty.
ROD PEARCE: Yeah the uncertainly comes about principally because GPs haven't been central to the planning.
It's been acknowledged that GPs need to have a place but they haven't supported the involvement and the working with general practice and there is an opportunity to work with general practice to integrate their work with influenza in the planning for a pandemic and that opportunity so far has been missed.
DAVID MARK: What need to change?
ROD PEARCE: GPs need to be part of the planning process, which is part of the Federal Governments responsibility to work with general practice directly rather than just leaving it to the states to try ad hoc plans with their GPs.
Some states have been working with general practice, but it's not a uniform response across Australia and there hasn't been enough investment in the education, training and support for GPs both to understand what they need to do and also to be ready to respond.
ELEANOR HALL: That's the Chairman of the Australian Medical Association's Council of General Practice, Dr Rod Pearce, ending David Mark's report.
And the Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon was unavailable for an interview, but a spokesman said the Government does recognise the importance of primary care providers in responding to an influenza pandemic and is developing a training program.
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2008/s2258077.htm
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