Monthly Archives: December 2010

Let the giving begin, not end with Christmas – and please spare more than a thought for asylum seekers

December 24, 2010 – 2:39 pm

Croakey is taking a break over the Christmas period. If you are in the fortunate position of having more cash or goods than you need post-Christmas, spare a thought for the Asylum Seekers Centre in NSW or similar organisations working for those in need. Prabha Gulati, Director of the Asylum Seekers Centre, writes: The holiday [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Posted in social determinants of health | Tagged , | Comments (0)

The stand-out health story for 2010: a journalistic goldmine

December 24, 2010 – 2:12 pm

It wasn’t hard to work out where to cast my vote for the health story of the year. The stand-out nominee is the Dollars for Docs database, established by the not-for-profit investigative newsroom in the US, ProPublica. Although it is leading to a veritable goldmine of stories, it’s had surprisingly little attention from the mainstream [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Posted in conflicts of interest, Media-related issues, pharmaceutical industry, quality and safety of health care | Tagged , , , | Comments (1)

Membership of the new national mental health advisory group

December 23, 2010 – 8:12 pm

As you may have heard in the news today, the Minister for Mental Health and Ageing Mark Butler has announced that he will chair a new Expert Advisory Group on Mental Health. A shame that the press release says its aim is to “provide the Federal Government with advice on the important reforms needed in [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Posted in health reform, mental health, social determinants of health | Tagged , | Comments (4)

Health policy: who is on the best-read list?

December 22, 2010 – 8:41 pm

Australian Policy Online has just published a list of its five most read reports and commentary pieces in the health area for 2010. 1. Primary health care reform in Australia Department of Health and Ageing 2. Black Saturday: the immediate impact of the February 2009 bushfires in Victoria, Australia Peter A. Cameron, and others | [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Posted in health reform, Hospitals, primary health care, Youth health | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Health reform: where have we been, and where are we headed?

December 21, 2010 – 10:43 pm

Carol Bennett, Chief Executive of the Consumers Health Forum, writes: If not much happened in health reform in 2010 – as some observers claim – we at the Consumers Health Forum must have been putting a lot of effort into nothing. A quick check of the records shows that we put forward submissions and subsequently [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Posted in e-health, health reform, pharmacy, primary health care, Uncategorized | Comments (2)

Is Rob Moodie to kick off new National Preventive Health Agency?

December 21, 2010 – 9:51 am

Word around town is that Professor Rob Moodie, who chaired the National Preventative Health Taskforce, will be appointed as interim CEO of the new National Preventive Health Agency. The appointment has not been officially confirmed, however, and Moodie has not responded to my query on the matter. (I will check with the Department of Health [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Posted in National Preventive Health Agency, public health, Uncategorized | Comments (3)

How well equipped are hospitals and other health facilities to respond to employee sabotage and other crises?

December 20, 2010 – 5:23 pm

What are the most common types of crises affecting health organisations such as hospitals, medical centres, aged care facilities, pharmacies and dental clinics? And how well are such organisations equipped to respond to crises such as product recalls, employee sabotage, natural disasters and major lawsuits? These questions have been investigated by researchers, and the results [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Posted in adverse events, aged care, dental care, general practice, health and medical research, Hospitals, Journal articles, pharmacy, primary health care | Tagged , , | Comments (1)

A Who’s Who of the local health networks in NSW

December 20, 2010 – 11:16 am

(See 23 Dec update at bottom of post re appointment of chief execs. And see 5 Jan, 2011 update re a Halton appointment) On Friday, the NSW Health Minister Carmel Tebbutt announced the membership of the 15 geographically-based Governing Councils that will oversee NSW’s Local Health Networks or LHNs – full details at the bottom [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Posted in health reform, Hospitals, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments (3)

How social media is connecting people in public health: some lessons from WA

December 20, 2010 – 8:45 am

Croakey is always interested to learn how people in the health sector – especially public health – are engaging with new media. In WA, a micro-blogging tool called Yammer is proving useful for internal communications within the public health workforce and more broadly, report Lizanne Sivapalan and Tarun Weeramanthri, from the WA Health Department. Lizanne [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Posted in Media-related issues, public health | Tagged , , | Comments (10)

Can Victorians expect action on the supply of alcohol to minors?

December 20, 2010 – 8:28 am

Will the change of government in Victoria mean some good news on the alcohol front? Sarah Jaggard, Community Mobilisation Policy Officer of the Australian Drug Foundation, has  written previously at Croakey about Victoria’s laggardly tendencies when it comes to enacting legislation targeting the the secondary supply of alcohol to minors. (Under such laws, an adult [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Posted in alcohol, public health, Youth health | Tagged , , | Comments (0)