Why doctors still matter

Why doctors still matter

As we move to live with or beyond COVID – or the new COVID normal – we will be actively looking at the way doctors are valued within the healthcare system.

In addition to being the CEO of AMA (NSW), I also happen to be married to a doctor. This means that I, like many of your families, am used to the hurried SMS letting me know that my husband has been called in and will be running late. 

On a recent Friday night, a casual check of our family tracker app showed that being called in meant he had been flown to a regional hospital to do an emergency operation.  

This presented a very dramatic example of something I have had been thinking of more and more – the role of doctors in healthcare. 

While COVID has highlighted the value of the healthcare worker and the team, in that mix, the critical role of the doctor is sometimes lost. 

In the case of this emergency operation, all of the other members of team involved in that care were important, but it was the doctor who was irreplaceable and on whom everything rested. 

While this is an extreme example, it reflects on many other discussions we have been having within the AMA about the value and importance of doctors, whether it is the irreplaceable role of general practice, the surgeons and anaesthetists (and registrars) who will be rolling up their sleeves to respond to the waiting list crisis, or the many other critical roles doctors are playing, the AMA is there to remind the media, the public and politicians that everyone in healthcare is important but none of it works without doctors. 

As we move to live with or beyond COVID – or the new COVID normal – we will be actively looking at the way doctors are valued within the healthcare system.  

This includes our doctors-in-training members who have missed out on so much during COVID. We need to remind people of the importance of well-trained doctors – a fact I was reminded of when I raised this issue at a recent health industry event. The person I raised the issue with firstly said, “Surely you would not want anyone to know about that issue” and then “but don’t they use robots for surgery now.” I was almost equally concerned by both comments.

We need to look to value our rural and regional doctors. In recent months, regional VMOs in two different LHDs have been asked to give up their Professional Support Payment so that the hospital can provide the funds to other healthcare workers. As the person who worked with our rural and regional members in 2007 to negotiate this payment, I was outraged that such an approach was being considered for a benefit specifically designed to recognise the difference in income and more onerous nature of being a regional and rural specialist. 

This will be particularly important over the coming 12 months in the lead up to the State election when so many groups will be clamouring for focus.  

We will continue to speak for all of you providing critical services to your community, each and every day.