Plastic Surgery in the News

Week beginning 30th January 2012

PIP Breast Implants

27 January 2012: TGA releases a safety advisory statement regarding rupture rates for implants manufactured by Poly-Implant Prothese (PIP).
Read more below about PIP in the news.

Operational e-Health system still years away

FUNDING for the $500 million personally controlled e-Health record program ends on June 30, yet it is clear an operational system is still years away. Under an ambitious timeline set by former health minister Nicola Roxon, the PCEHR system was supposed to begin operations nationwide from July 1. To view the full media release, please click here.

Week beginning 23rd January 2012

NBN to further boost Telehealth Takeup

A new $20.6 million telehealth program utilising the National Broadband Network (NBN) will provide new and innovative in-home telehealth services to older Australians, people living with cancer and those requiring palliative care. To view the full media release, please click here.

Month period from 26th December 2011 to 22nd January 2012

PIP Breast Implants

20 January 2012: TGA releases an update on the Australian perspective regarding implants manufactured by Poly-Implant Prothese (PIP).

12 January 2012: TGA releases information regarding test that have been conducted on silicone gel filled breast implants manufactured by Poly-Implant Prothese (PIP).

7 January 2012: Australian Government sets up a 24 hour breast implant hotline.
The 24 hour Breast Implant Information Line is 1800 217 257.

4 January 2012: Following the safety advisory from December 2011, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) releases a media statement and safety alert.

Week beginning 19th December 2011

PIP Breast Implants

The TGA released a Safety Advisory regarding PIP on 21 December 2011. To read it please click here.

Cosmetic Medical Tourism and Revision

Related ASPS Media Release:
ASPS released a media statement on Cosmetic Medical Tourism and Revision rates. The release saw national exposure on ABC radio (AM program, regional programs, national) and most major newspapers. To read the media release, please visit the ASPS media release page.

Pay deal sealed for public-private practitioners in QLD

The Queensland government has finally sealed a pay deal with doctors (back-dated to  1 January 2010) who take time from private practice to work in public hospitals. To view the full media release, click here.

Week beginning 12th December 2011

The Bomb Buried In Obamacare Explodes Today-Hallelujah!

One notable features of the Affordable Care Act should have a long lasting and powerful impact on the future of health care in USA. To view the full article, please click here.

Week beginning 5th December 2011

Government to Improve Regulation of Therapeutic Goods

The Australian government will introduce a comprehensive package of reforms for Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to ensure the regulation of medicines and medical devices is more effective and transparent. To view the full media release, please click here.

Week beginning 28th November 2011

New MyHospitals Data Shows Record Use of Hospitals

Australians can now look back at over three-years of elective surgery and emergency department data for their local hospital on the popular MyHospitals website following new data added to the website on 30 November 2011. To view the full media release, please click here.

Week beginning 21st November 2011

Independent Hospital Funding Umpire Laws Passed

A key pillar of the Government’s health reforms that will deliver fair funding for hospitals across the country passed through the Parliament last night. “The Independent Hospital Pricing Authority will take the politics out of health funding and the passage of this legislation is another run on the board for health reform” Minister for Health and Ageing Nicola Roxon said. To view the full media release, please click here.

eHealth Records Legislation Introduced

Legislation has been introduced into Parliament for Australia's national eHealth records system, with the rollout starting from July 2012. To view the full media release, please click here.

Week beginning 14th November 2011

35-Year High in the Number of Australians Covered by Private Hospital Insurance

New figures from the Private Health Insurance Administration Council show that more Australians are covered by private hospital insurance now than at any other time in the past 35 years. To view the full media release, please click here.

Week beginning 7th November 2011

$1B Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre Moves Forward

The Australian and Victorian Governments have agreed on the implementation plan to develop the $1 billion Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre. To view the full media release, please click here.

More Health Professionals to be Trained in Queensland

Queensland families will have better access to more doctors and allied health workers thanks to the opening of the expanded Greenslopes Private Hospital Clinical School. To view the full media release, please click here.

Week beginning 31st October 2011

States and Territories Rewarded for Improved Elective Surgery Performance

Most states and territories will receive full reward funding for their performance against the third round of elective surgery targets. To view the full media release, please click here.

Australian Government Committed to Prevention Strategies

The Australian Government’s committed and increasingly unified approach to injury prevention has earned the nation an enviable international reputation for road transport trauma and childhood injury prevention. To view the full media release, please click here.

Week beginning 24th October 2011

Nicola Roxon speech to CEDA: Building a Sustainable Health System for the Future

The Minister for Health and Ageing, Nicola Roxon, addresses the Committee for the Economic Development of Australia about Building a Sustainable Health System for the Future. To read the transcript of the speech, please click here.

Week beginning 17th October 2011

$673.7 Million for Biggest Ever Investment in Health and Medical Research

The Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Mark Butler, has announced the single largest investment in grants for health and medical research in Australian history. To view the full media release, please click here.

Fed govt unveils $670m of health grants

The federal government has announced grants of more than $670 million for health and medical research. The 1140 grants will support researchers and research projects through the National Health and Medical Research Council. Junior health minister Mark Butler said the grants represent the single largest investment of their kind. It would give young researchers a solid foundation for their future career while experienced researchers could continue to run innovative research projects, he said. To view the full media release, please click here.

Lose the arrogance, Australian surgeons told

They are not famous for their self-doubt, modesty or people skills, but Australian surgeons are being warned to ditch the arrogance if they want to avoid complaints. In a letter to the Medical Journal of Australia (19 September), the Australian Association of Surgeons president Dr John Buntine offered an explanation for the findings of a recent study suggesting that being an overseas trained doctor “had a protective effect” when it came to patient complaints. To view the full article, please click here.

New Centre to Train More Doctors and Nurses in Western Sydney

A new training centre that will play a key role in training more doctors and nurses for Western Sydney has been opened in Blacktown. To view the full media release, please click here.

Week beginning 10th October 2011

Further Evidence of Record Investment in Mental Health Services

New data released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows that spending on mental health related services is continuing at record levels. The data shows that around $5.9 billion is spent on mental health services each year and that spending on mental health-related services has increased by an average of 4.8 per cent per Australian between 2004–05 and 2008–09. To view the full media release, please click here.

Cosmetic surgery's ugly side

While many of the hundreds of Aussies who undergo plastic surgery are happy with their results, in the wrong hands procedures can turn very ugly. To listen to the Today Tonight story, please click here.

Week beginning 3rd October 2011

Curtain drawn around blunders in hospitals

'The commission, in my opinion, should name and shame'
HOSPITAL horror stories abound and most are kept secret from the prying eyes of the media. Patients die horrible deaths in hospitals and nursing homes because of clinical errors, yet doctors and nurses often escape with a gentle rap over the knuckles.
To view the full media release, please click here.

Week beginning 26th September 2011

A Bright Future for Australian Health and Medical Research

2011 Australian of the Year Simon McKeon will chair an independent review of health and medical research in Australia and recommend a 10-year strategic health and medical research plan for the nation. To view the full media release, please click here.

Girls check in for genital mutilation

A NURSE friend recently suggested I write about the epidemic of "young girls having boob jobs". Sure enough, a decade after Dow Corning went bankrupt through billions of dollars worth of lawsuits from women who claimed silicone breast implants made them sick, boob jobs are back in fashion... Yet, when I visited a private hospital in an affluent Sydney suburb recently, nurses there told me the real story was not breast enlargements but surgery being undertaken by young women to reshape their outer genitals. It is the fad of the "designer vagina". To view the full media release, please click here.

Release of draft eHealth Legislation

Minister for Health and Ageing, Nicola Roxon, released the draft eHealth records legislation for public consultation. To view the full media release, please click here.

Week beginning 19th September 2011

Patient complaints allege doctors fail to disclose risks

In more than 70 per cent of legal disputes over informed consent, patients allege the doctor failed to properly explain the risks of complications, a University of Melbourne study published in the latest Medical Journal of Australia (MJA) has found. To read the University of Melbourne press release, please click here.

To view the original research from the MJA, please click here.

GPs score high in patient communication survey

GPs rank among the least complained about medical professionals when it comes to patient satisfaction with information they receive about treatment, a new study reveals. The paper, in this week’s MJA, analysed 481 claims and complaints against doctors insured by Avant in Victoria from 2002 to 2008, which involved an alleged deficiency in informed consent regarding potential risks and side effects. To view the full media release, please click here.
Related story: AIHW, ‘Most medical indemnity claims are small and settled within three years’, To view the full media release, please click here.

National Health Reform Continues to Deliver

A new national watchdog for Australia’s health system will soon be formed after legislation to establish the National Health Performance Authority passed the Senate today.
Acting Minister for Health and Ageing Mark Butler welcomed the news and said the National Health Performance Authority is a key part of the Gillard Government’s commitment to provide patients with better information about the performance of public and private hospitals and Medicare Locals through tools like the MyHospitals website.
“Providing better information about local health and hospital services is essential to improving local services for Australians,” Mr Butler said. To read the full article click here.

Scientists wage war on old age by tweaking our DNA

MARATHON man Doug Smart, 68, is a picture of health. The father of three from St Georges has every chance of living to 100, maybe even 150. Sound far-fetched? Not so, says British geneticist Aubrey de Grey. He believes the first human to live to 150 has already been born and the first human to live to 1000 will probably be born within 20 years. To view the full media release, please click here.

Week beginning 12th September 2011

Review of the NHMRC/ASBT Clinical Practice Guidelines on Fresh Blood Components (2001)

National Blood Authority (NBA) Australia is undertaking a review of the NHMRC/ASBT Clinical Practice Guidelines on Fresh Blood Components (2001) which will result in the production of six modules as part of a comprehensive, evidence-based, Patient Blood Management Guideline. To read the public consultation on the NBA website click here.

Pulling E-Health Together, Not Tearing it Apart

The following article by Minister for Health and Ageing Nicola Roxon was published on 6 Minutes.
This week we took eHealth to the Federal Parliament, demonstrating to politicians how records will make a real difference to patient care in the hospitals, GP surgeries and pharmacies in their electorates. The same demonstration will soon travel to different parts of the country, helping clinicians, consumers and others in the health system understand how connecting the patient journey will make a real difference. What we were able to show to politicians is that this is not a technology system – it is a health system. It will improve care for patients, reduce medication errors and avoid unnecessary tests. To read the full article click here.

Ehealth Record Blueprints Finalised

The finalised plans for Australia’s secure, efficient eHealth system were today released by the Government. The Concept of Operations for the personally controlled electronic health record (PCEHR) system is a fundamental part of the move from paper-based records to secure eHealth records. To read the full article click here.
 

Cosmetics Regulatory Gap Closed

The Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing, Catherine King, has welcomed new laws to regulate ingredients in cosmetics which passed the Senate today.
“The new legislation will cut red tape, eliminate overlapping regulation between agencies and better protect public health,” Ms King said.
The regulation of ingredients in cosmetics has been split between the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and the National Industrial Chemicals Scheme (NICNAS) which has been confusing for consumers and a burden on industry.
“This new legislation finalises the transfer of the regulation of these ingredients to NICNAS while also allowing any conditions which have been put on their use by TGA, to be transferred to NICNAS. To read the full article click here.
 

Week beginning 5th September 2011

Launch of Health Implementation Plan

The plan charting the path for national health reform implementation was released today by Minister for Health and Ageing Nicola Roxon. "The Implementation Plan shows how the benefits of health reform—increasing the sustainability of public hospitals, delivering unprecedented levels of transparency and accountability, less waste and significantly less waiting for patients—will be achieved. To read the full article click here.

Week beginning 29th August 2011

Interim Independent Hospital Pricing Authority Underway

Dr Tony Sherbon has been appointed the acting Chief Executive Officer of the interim Independent Hospital Pricing Authority (IHPA), starting today (1 September 2011). ... The establishment of the interim IHPA from today gives effect to a key element of the National Health Reform Agreement, less than a month after the agreement was signed by all states and territories and the Commonwealth. Under the National Health Reform Agreement the interim IHPA will be responsible for critical aspects of a new nationally consistent approach to activity-based funding of public hospitals, until legislation is passed to create the IHPA as a statutory authority. The interim IHPA has been established as an executive agency from 1st September 2011. To read the full article click here.

Week beginning 4th July 2011

Cosmetic surgery on children - Professional and legal obligations in Australia

by Leon Kitipornchai, Shih-Ning Then.

Public awareness and concern about cosmetic surgery on children is increasing. Nationally and internationally questions have been raised by the media and government bodies about the appropriateness of children undergoing cosmetic surgery. Considering the rates of cosmetic surgery in comparable Western societies, it seems likely that the number of physicians in Australia who will deal with a request for cosmetic surgery for a child will continue to increase. This is a sensitive issue and it is essential that physicians understand the professional and legal obligations that arise when cosmetic surgery is proposed for a child. To read the full article click here.

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