Sent Denise ----- Original Message ----- From: "Justine Caines" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "OzMid List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, August 16, 2003 3:37 AM Subject: Re: [ozmidwifery] Another article on the doctor's crisis
> > Martyn Goddard - Australian Consumers Association Health Spokesperson > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Ph: (02) 9577 3399 > > > > Dear Andrea > > Sounds also like Martyn Goddard and the Australian Consumers Association > > needs educating any one know his contact details so we can write to hime > > about midwifery options and their record of saftey and efficacy ?? > > Denise Hynd > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Andrea Robertson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Sent: Thursday, August 14, 2003 7:38 PM > > Subject: [ozmidwifery] Another article on the doctor's crisis > > > > > >> Hi, > >> > >> Yet another article: Sydney Morning Herald, Aug 12, 2003 - Page 1 with big > >> pic. The doctors bleating again about their insurance. I note that the > >> doctor in Moree (featured in the huge pic, with a baby) says she still > >> works at the hospital, so women aren't really missing out on obstetric > >> care, just private medicine. > >> > >> ---------------------- > >> > >> Doctors at a premium in the litigation era > >> Ruth Pollard and Ben Wyld report. > >> August 12, 2003 > >> > >> > >> Sixteen months after Australia's largest medical defence organisation > >> collapsed, the true cost is > >> only now emerging. > >> > >> At Westmead Hospital, obstetrician Andrew Pesce is worried. "Ten years > >> ago," he says, "there were 15 of us providing obstetrics and gynecological > >> services at Westmead to people in the area. There are now seven. > >> > >> "I now turn away more patients . . . than I look after. Our specialty is > >> dying - the way that we practise has been corrupted by the expense of the > >> litigation and the psychological impact that it has on the practitioners." > >> > >> General surgeons, neurosurgeons and others paint the same bleak picture. > >> Doctors will keep quitting the > >> profession because their insurance way too high - despite Federal > >> Government subsidies, significant state law reform and Canberra's action > > to > >> prop up United Medical Protection since the insurer went into provisional > >> liquidation last year. > >> > >> W ithout Government subsidies, obstetricians face annual premiums of up to > >> $140,000. Dr Pesce, spokesman for the National Association of Specialist > >> Obstetricians and Gynecologists, says 45 of the nation's 700 practising > >> obstetricians left obstetric practice in 2001. > >> > >> "That is about six to seven per cent of the workforce. Last year it was > >> even higher than that, and there is no indication it is going to get any > >> better." > >> > >> One casualty of the crisis is Moree obstetrician and general practitioner > >> Maxine Percival, who stopped doing private procedural obstetrics in May > >> last year. Dr Percival, who would have faced a premium of $20,000 this > > year > >> if she had maintained her procedural insurance, now only practises > >> obstetrics for the local public hospital. She said a loss of confidence in > >> UMP forced her to give up her procedural work. > >> > >> "In obstetrics, litigation can be launched 25 years after the procedure," > >> Dr Percival said. "I don't know if UMP or their subsidiary will be around > >> next year, let alone in 25 years' time." > >> > >> The Government stepped into the indemnity crisis after UMP went into > >> provisional liquidation with unfunded liabilities of $460 million. UMP had > >> about 30,000 members, or two-thirds of the country's doctors. The > >> Government rescue package is estimated to be worth $260 million over four > >> years. > >> > >> Dr Percival says that for women in Moree, who don't want to be admitted to > >> the district hospital as a public patient, the alternative is a three-hour > >> trip to the nearest obstetrician in Tamworth. > >> > >> "For towns that are relatively isolated, you can't put pregnant women in > >> the back of an ambulance and transfer them three hours away, hoping they > >> get there without having their baby." > >> > >> Dr Pesce said Federal Government subsidies had helped to make medical > >> indemnity more affordable for obstetricians but the pressures, both > >> financial and legal, continued to bite. > >> > >> The president of the NSW Neurosurgical Association, Dr Warwick Stening, > > had > >> warned last year that 10 of the state's 30 neurosurgeons would resign if > >> the medical indemnity crisis continued. In a move to reduce medical > >> misadventure, cut premiums and thereby halt the exodus, neurosurgeons > >> launched a project to identify and measure risk in the hospital system and > >> to manage better the risk of neurosurgical procedures. Working with NSW > >> Health, the risk-management model will be rolled out in the next year. > >> > >> "We are still a long way from solving the problem, but this is a positive > >> step that we have taken which will allow us to identify problems before an > >> unfavourable outcome occurs," Dr Stening said. "All we can do is to start > >> to reduce the number of claims by reducing the number of adverse > > incidents." > >> > >> Dr Stening said the NSW Government's Health Care Liability Act of 2001 and > >> the Civil Liability Act of 2002, along with Federal Government subsidies, > >> had helped ease the financial pressure on neurosurgeons. > >> > >> But that was not to say, he said, that a special new levy - imposed on > >> doctors in case of a claim against them - would not hurt the rest of the > >> medical profession. A recent survey of 750 general surgeons aged over 55 > >> has found that one in five intends to retire in the near future. Nearly > > 100 > >> per cent of them nominate medical indemnity as the reason. > >> > >> Many experts are placing their hopes on the establishment of a federally > >> administered fund for the catastrophically injured. This would help cut > >> medical indemnity premiums. Yet after 10 months of meetings, progress on > >> achieving such a fund is no closer. > >> > >> Dr Pesce said: "The Government has made great effort to improve the > >> situation . . . we now need substantial reform of the remaining uncapped > >> liabilities that doctors face, and that is for the long-term care costs > > for > >> the catastrophically injured." > >> > >> The Assistant Treasurer, Helen Coonan, said the long-term scheme was > >> definitely on the national agenda. "You cannot contemplate a proper system > >> of professional standards for doctors . . . without having regard for the > >> long-term care needs of those catastrophically injured by medical > > negligence." > >> > >> It was November 2001 when a court handed down a decision that would send > >> shockwaves through the medical fraternity. Sydney woman Calandre Simpson, > >> who suffers from cerebral palsy, was awarded $14.2 million after she > >> successfully sued the doctor who botched her delivery. > >> > >> It was almost twice the previous highest award, and it highlighted the > >> vulnerability of both the country's medical insurance industry, and > >> individual doctors. The payout has since been reduced to just under $11 > >> million on appeal. > >> > >> The tort law reforms put in place by the federal and state governments > >> since the collapse of UMP, six months after the Simpson decision, have hit > >> consumers hard, according to the senior health policy officer for the > >> Australian Consumers Association, Martyn Goddard. > >> > >> They would simply deliver increasing wealth to insurance companies and do > >> nothing to lower the cost of premiums, Mr Goddard said. "The real cause of > >> the bulk of indemnity rises wasn't a sudden increase in litigation - there > >> has been no such increase - it was changes to the structure of the > >> global reinsurance market." > >> > >> The Federal Government clearly needed to intervene in the medical > >> reinsurance market, he said. "They are doing the opposite, which is trying > >> to reduce premiums by subsidies and by limiting patients' rights." > >> > >> --------------------------------- > >> > >> ----- > >> Andrea Robertson > >> Birth International * ACE Graphics * Associates in Childbirth Education > >> > >> e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >> web: www.birthinternational.com > >> > >> > >> -- > >> This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. > >> Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe. > >> > > > > > > -- > > This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. > > Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe. > > -- > This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. > Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe. -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe.
