ACEM President joins medical leaders to discuss health system reform
On Monday, ACEM President Dr Stephen Gourley joined health sector colleagues from 50 medical colleges, peak bodies and associations in Canberra to discuss the Australian healthcare system’s critical need for reform.
Participants included Royal Australasian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) President Dr Nicole Higgins, Australasian College of Emergency Medicine (ACEM) President Dr Stephen Gourley, Australian Medical Association (AMA) President Dr Steve Robson, and the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) President Associate Professor Kerin Fielding (left to right in featured photo). All are based in rural Australia – marking a significant first within Australian healthcare leadership.
“Our overcrowded emergency departments are a symptom of the failing health system that we've got at the moment,” Dr Gourley said.
“What we're doing right now isn't working. We need fundamental change to the system, and that's what we're here to talk about.”
Dr Gourley said the roundtable meeting was a unique opportunity for health sector leadership to collaborate on strategies that could reduce the pressures on the health system and healthcare workers, with discussions aimed at influencing future policy.
The urgent need to address ongoing workforce shortages that are having a serious impact Australian healthcare was acknowledged by Federal Health and Aged Care Minister Mark Butler, who spoke at the event.
Dr Gourley called for greater Commonwealth investment to help ensure regional, rural and remote towns across the nation have greater access to healthcare – with workforce shortages adding extra stress for staff working in the already high-pressure environments.
Health systems must be reimagined and re-designed, he said. “The answers are not building bigger emergency departments. It’s about designing systems where people can access health care without being funnelled through the emergency department.”
