Ratings for docs
Remember “Rate MDs.com” (http://au.ratemds.com) from last month’s Have You Heard? Ratings of WA medicos have now tripled. While there are plenty of comments like “if its bones you got a problem with, he is your man” – one worrying note cropped up on a specialist’s record: “He appeared either extremely tired or otherwise impaired – slurred speech, blurry eyes, inattention, etc. His treatment has resulted in permanent and disabling damage…” The site’s FAQ counsels that if you think your rating is unfair, your only course is to post a comment. Imperiously, they state they will not remove doctors’ names and lawsuits will not work (quoting some US laws – pfft!), adding this pearl of wisdom: “this site is only going to get more popular as time goes by, so the best way of dealing with it is to use it rather than try to fight it.”
QEII angst
While the Reid report’s focus has been closing Royal Perth and opening the new Fiona Stanley hospital, the expansion of QEII is causing angst down Nedlands way. Following calls from Nedlands Mayor Laurie Taylor, a recent public meeting was held and attended by Jim McGinty. Local residents voiced concerns about traffic jams around an expanded facility and the associated parking problems. The issue has become entangled in local council politics, with all sides using local community newspapers to vent their feelings on the issue. The state government suggests improved public transport is the answer so will a wheelchair-access sickie bus eventuate?
Ice age ending?
The recent WA Drug Summit found the state has the highest rate of ‘ice’ (methamphetamine) use in the country but the work of frontline drug workers and medicos appears to be stemming the tide. The Australian School Students Alcohol and Drug Survey (2005) indicated a declining rate of total drug use in WA schools from 10.3% in 2002 to 6.5% in 2005.
Unhealthy health corporate services
Corporate services in WA are big business, costing taxpayers $315m annually. In December 2003, the WA government launched the Shared Corporate Services Project to reform and streamline public sector corporate services by bringing incongruent agencies together into three shared services: health (Health Corporate Network or HCN), education, and the Office of Shared Services (OSS). The recent Auditor-General’s report on shared services was damning: the project is two years behind schedule, there is a cost blowout of $76m (from $122m to $198m), and HR integration is in jeopardy from tech issues and mismanagement. HCN’s implementation of an electronic document management system has failed, while at OSS, which is caught between the old and new systems, inefficiencies are costing $400k per month. HCN has multiple HR systems and no electronic records management system, which means they manually handle large volumes of paperwork. The Auditor-General said the reform was ambitious and high risk, but there was little coordination between the three agencies and governance was inadequate thanks to weaknesses in project management, increasing software complexity, and high turnover of key staff.
Perth’s BioPharmica raises BAR
Perth-based BioPharmica doubled its share price in June and will spin off a new company called Cortical Dynamics. Shareholders registered on July 15 received one share in Cortical Dynamics free for every one share in BioPharmica they held. Cortical Dynamics has received a grant from the NH&MRC and has been working with Swinburne University to commercialise and develop the Brain Anaesthesia Response (BAR) index monitoring system. This monitor is designed to detect and record electrical activity of the brain. It gives an indication to the anaesthetist as to the depth of anaesthesia during surgery. International patent coverage is pending, and following a successful pilot trial, a second trial is currently underway.
Take a sickie, it’s cheaper
A Medibank Private survey found that there is a bigger cost to industry if sick employees show up versus taking ‘sickies’. The cost to the Australian economy of sick people turning up for work when was $25 billion. The estimated cost of ‘sickies’ was $7 billion. So next time the boss asks you to soldier on, remember that the cost of presenteism was nearly four times that of absenteeism.