Stand out from the crowd
November 10, 2016
NSW Hospitals Under Pressure
November 10, 2016
FEATURE
AMA (NSW) would like to welcome five new members to its Council. The positions were created following the Annual General Meeting held in May in an effort to improve diversity and representation of Council.
Dr Kath Browning Carmo
Dr Kathryn BROWNING Carmo is a neonatologist at the Children’s Hospital Westmead and has served as a senior staff specialist retrieval consultant with the Newborn and Paediatric Emergency Service NSW (NETS) since 2008.
Her role in caring for the most vulnerable of our society – critically ill and injured newborns, infants and children, has given Dr Browning Carmo an understanding of both the strengths and the difficulties of providing healthcare in Australia. She is a passionate advocate for improving health outcomes, particularly for children.
Born in rural Australia herself, Dr Browning Carmo is acutely aware of the inequity of rural healthcare, and her work with NETS has deepened this understanding.
Dr Browning Carmo joined the Council to give a voice to neonatal and paediatric patients throughout NSW but particularly to families living in rural Australia.
“Being from Coolamon, I understand the tyranny of distance when a child is unwell in the outback. When infants and children are sick, time is often critical and we need to establish better ways of delivering time efficient medical care to all Australians including those in country areas.”
As Dr Browning Carmo noted, “We are one of the wealthiest countries on earth and yet we have rural Australians who are still living in third world conditions without
expedient access to tertiary and quarternary healthcare.”
Dr Elizabeth Marles
Dr Elizabeth Marles is currently working for Hornsby Hospital as a staff specialist in General Practice, where she is the Director of the Hornsby-Brooklyn GP Unit. In her work at the Unit, Dr Marles is a GP Supervisor with GP Synergy, and has established an Aboriginal health clinic as well as integrated care clinics with the hospital in diabetes and physical care of mental health patients.
She is currently partnering with the paediatrics department of Hornsby Hospital to deliver Hornsby Healthy Kids – a childhood obesity clinic.
A former RACGP President and NSW and ACT Faculty Chair, Dr Marles frequently worked alongside AMA (NSW), in what has been a positive, collaborative relationship.
“AMA (NSW) has been an incredibly effective organisation with the ear of politicians and the general public alike. Sustainability of our profession is essential to providing Australians with the top quality efficient healthcare they expect, but it is not something we can take for granted. With general practice at the crossroads, it is an important time for us to work together finding common ground wherever possible. I am really looking forward to contributing to the debate as a member of AMA (NSW) Council.”
Dr Marles was awarded the RACGP NSW General Practice of the Year in 2015.
Dr Kate Porges
Dr Kate Porges is an emergency physician, working clinically in the emergency departments of the Central Coast LHD (Gosford and Wyong), as well as the Area Director of Emergency Services for Central Coast LHD.
She was an elected NSW representative on the Federal Council for the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) from 2009 to 2013.
Whilst on ACEM Council, Dr Porges chaired the ACEM Private Practice Committee, and sat on the ACEM Overseas Credentialing Committee, and the ACEM Public Health Committee. Her work on the Public Health Committee led to an increased role of the ACEM in the last drinks campaign, and studies of the prevalence of alcohol-related presentations to Australasian hospitals.
Dr Porges spent five years on the NSW Ministerial Emergency Care Taskforce, which was pivotal in setting up the current Emergency Care Institute (ECI), improving the quality and consistency of emergency care given to patients across NSW.
“I believe the AMA, at both a State and Federal level, plays a pivotal role in advocating for best quality patient care, and supporting those medical staff providing that care. Its ability to lobby in an array of political and community arenas gives it unique opportunities to create positive change in a way no other organisation can.”
Dr Ashish Jiwane
Dr ashish Jiwane has worked as a paediatric surgeon/urologist at Sydney Children’s Hospital Network, Randwick since 2010.
He is presently the head of paediatric urology at SCHN and also works as a visiting medical officer at Campbelltown Hospital.
Dr Jiwane was prompted to join AMA (NSW) after witnessing the AMA’s role in mediation during the crisis in paediatric surgery last year.
“I was very impressed by the AMA’s support and involvement,” he said.
After years of failed communications with health administration, the surgeons – supported by AMA (NSW) and ASMOF (NSW) – put forward their case to the NSW Government in an open letter just prior to the NSW election.
Health Minister Jillian Skinner responded promptly with a commitment to employ five new paediatric general surgeons.
Dr Jiwane said the AMA’s contribution and input during this conflict encouraged him to “to reach out and contribute to the work the AMA is doing.”
Dr Jiwane’s experience as an IMG also gives him a unique perspective on issues overseas doctors face when working in Australia.
Dr Danielle McMullen
Dr DANIELLE McMullen is a GP practicing in Sydney’s inner west. She graduated from UNSW in 2010, completed a Diploma of Child Health, a Certificate in Reproductive and Sexual Health, and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Since her prevocational training across a number of rural and metropolitan hospitals, she has undertaken GP training in clinics in NSW and the NT.
She advocates passionately on behalf of doctors in training and has been chair of the NSW DITC since 2014.
She is part of a number of GP and DIT committees both Federally and in NSW. Dr McMullen is currently serving as the Hon. Treasurer on the AMA (NSW) Board.
Dr McMullen’s interest in advocacy for her fellow doctors’ education and training as well as workforce planning are key motivators for her involvement in the AMA.
According to Dr McMullen, remaining relevant and valuable in the modern day is another challenge facing the profession.
“We will always need doctors, but it’s a time of great change in medical practice, and we need to decide as a profession how we will adapt our models of care, use technology, and remain up to date to make sure we are delivering the best possible care to our patients while still enjoying the work we do and being adequately rewarded.” dr.