Medication side effects and errors hospitalise 250,000 a year A quarter of a million Australians are hospitalised each year after mixing medications or experiencing drug side effects, a new report has found.
Thousands identified by new prescription monitoring system SafeScript has helped detect more than 3300 Victorian doctor-shoppers in its first two months.
Summit to address rural medical specialist shortage Healthcare representatives from all over Australia will gather to discuss strategies and solutions to boost the numbers of specialists out in the country.
IMGs, workforce shortages and the 10-year moratorium: Is there need for change? Medical recruiters say District of Workforce Shortage rules are flawed and the 10-year moratorium is ‘discriminatory’, and rural health experts acknowledge the effectiveness of what was ‘never intended to be a long-term solution’.
Federal law designed to protect against medicine shortages Medicine companies will have to report shortages of important medicines as soon as they occur under new legislation passed by the Federal Government.
We must tackle stigma around treating opioid-dependent patients: Rural GP A GP has called for doctors in the bush to overcome the common stigma associated with treating people with opioid dependency.
Greg Hunt proposes changes to reporting scheme to help address medicine shortages The Federal Health Minister wants to make the reporting scheme mandatory rather than voluntary, with legal definitions of medicine shortage and penalties for non-compliance.
Flu vaccines to be conserved as Australia waits on extra doses to address shortage GPs have been advised to prioritise their existing flu vaccines for vulnerable patients in the face of a continuing national shortage triggered by unprecedented demand.
How cutting back on mood-altering medication may have given one patient his life back Dr Hester Wilson, GP and Chair of the RACGP’s Specific Interests Addiction Medicine network, reflects on the challenges of helping a patient get off his long-term medications.
The latest trick to attract GPs to work in the country? Music videos A small town in rural Victoria hit the headlines this week by putting out a music video in a bid to attract new GPs.