01/02/2020-07/02/2020
After last week’s struggle with bad news item after bad news item, this week’s hotpot of positivity and negativity has been refreshing, if nothing else. With some developments following last week’s news, and some brand new items, this week is a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, so strap in!
In recent news…
This week holds several updates on the Coronavirus:
Scott Morrison announced that Australians who had contracted coronavirus overseas would be sent to Christmas Island, in an effort to quarantine them while placating calls on social media to bring them home. Although initially this move was announced to include a charge of $1,000 per patient for this transfer, further social media outrage resulted in this suggestion being dropped.
The location and facilities of Christmas Island have been criticised as inadequate for the purposes of a quarantine, as the world watched China purpose-build a hospital in 10 days. When cleared by quarantine, patients will have to make their way through West Australia before making their way home.
Mask supplies of all types had already been nearly wiped out in December and January as people rushed to protect their lungs from smoke, but the needs of people exposed to the Coronavirus resulted in complete depletion of national stocks. Although State and Federal departments are attempting to assuage concerns of Emergency Departments and GPs about masks for healthcare workers tasked with specimen collection, the distribution of the masks was delayed, the masks supplied were not the same as those recommended by the departments themselves, and some complaints have been made about the lack of transparency.
Frustrations have also been voiced about the lack of a CDC in Australia, with some GPs arguing that the decentralised and often opaque nature of the communication between State public health agencies and GPs has exacerbated the disorganised and inadequate response to Coronavirus.
However, the informal and online networks of primary care have once again risen to the challenge, with GPs across the country logging in to the GPDU forum to rapidly disseminate information and collaborate to improve their own responses to a health concern they are expected to address. Informal networks have become a crucial base for sharing knowledge and materials, and although this may indicate a shortfall of procedural and institutional support, it should also be celebrated as a sign of a mutually supportive and motivated community.
GPs have voiced their concerns over warning letters from the Department of Health which demand that GPs review (and in some cases, pay back) Medicare co-claims for professional attendance and mental health treatment items for the same patient on the same day. This despite GPs being touted as a core contact in public health efforts to address mental health concerns, and despite almost two-thirds of GPs reporting mental health as the most common health issue patients sought their help for, and despite evidence that mental health issues are often impacted by co-morbid concerns ranging from other health conditions to living conditions. The RACGP has already protested the initial tone of the letter, but this latest compliance push has been part of a $10 million federal effort to increase MBS compliance from 2018 which ultimately resulted in a strong pushback from GPs and accusations of intimidation tactics.
February 4 was World Cancer Day, and this week really did it justice. Last week’s cancer news was troublesome, with research by Glasziou, Jones, Pathirana, Barratt and Bell finding that Australian overdiagnosis rates may be as high as 11,000 cancers in women and 18,000 cancers in men per year. But this week, a massive international cross-disciplinary collaboration has finally borne fruit. A global genomics project, the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium brought together thousands of scientists to sequence and analyse 2, 658 whole genomes from 38 types of tumour. Their massive data crunching will doubtless be transformative in understanding the nature of cancers.
The USA celebrated National Women Physicians Day, and although it doesn’t technically apply to us Down Under I was still inspired to engage with recognising influential women physicians, so I’ve written a quick bio of the first Native American GP. A little bit of history didn’t hurt anybody.
Speaking of Human Books I admire; Dr. Suresh Khirwadkar has written a beautiful piece about his experiences as the doctor-patient and his diagnosis of pericarditis. You can (and should!) read more here - he mixes an engaging conversational tone with a courageous vulnerability, and I find that balance can be intimidating to attempt when tackling personal experiences.
Coming up…
This coming week we’ve got a couple of doozies for you - more original content, more human books, more more more! Keep your eyes peeled and see if you spot someone you know - or write in if you’ve got a piece you want to share! Briefs are going out next week for March, so if you’re feeling an itchy typing finger get ready!
As always, happy reading!