President’s Message

Welcome to another ANZSGM Newsletter and my final report as President.  It has been an interesting two years.  Thinking back to the Adelaide ASM in May 2019, there were a number of pressing issues (notably very specific to Australia) including MBS reform with potential loss of the CGA item numbers, better defining the role of the geriatrician in areas which most of us would consider core business in  perioperative and rehabilitation medicine; and the threatened abolition of ACAT.  This was all in the context of the relatively recently commenced Royal Commission.  There were also internal issues to think about as a Society and as a Council in particular – especially as we had observed the challenges faced by the RACP following its transition to a “professional” board structure and the involvement of the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission in reviewing College activity.

New challenges have arisen – COVID-19, the forced postponement of the Melbourne ASM, the prolongation of the Royal Commission and the retirement of Lynda Donaldson, who had of course served as our executive officer for a decade.  How well have we responded to these challenges?

It would seem that our case for maintaining the CGA item numbers has been accepted by the MBS review at this point in time – notably our position was supported by both the RACP and the AMA in their submissions on the matter.  In terms of our role in perioperative medicine, the commencement of our first special interest group as a society in this discipline is an important step in clarifying our key position as a profession in providing perioperative care.  Similarly, we are working to better define the key role geriatricians can play in leading multidisciplinary rehabilitation services for older people and this work will need to be ongoing.

The Royal Commission findings were released a short time ago – it has been surprising to me that there has been very little media interest – perhaps the volume and scope of the proposed changes has overwhelmed everyone.  In our initial media release, we very much focused on the concept of RACFs being supported by local Geriatrician led outreach teams. This model exists in some form in some places, but needs to be scaled and sustainably funded, ideally through reform to the National Health Reform Agreement to avoid the patchwork of cobbled together funding arrangements that currently exist.  If this were in place it would solve many of the clinical difficulties older people face in aged care, and properly recognise that older people’s access to aged care services is driven by medical need and multiple morbidity – rather than a lifestyle choice.  As an aside there still seems to be a drive to have single assessment for access, which would fundamentally change ACAT/ACAS in Australia, and it is unclear what role if any geriatricians will have in the process.

Internally we completed a formal recruitment process for our Executive Officer and were fortunate to secure the services of Alison King.  Alison has had previous experience with the RACP and significant experience in senior governance roles in a variety of organisations.  It has been a great pleasure to work closely with her over the last several months and there is significant modernisation of how things are run in the office.  We are very committed to providing more support to the operations of the divisions, and ensuring that divisions remain robust and dynamic is critical to the ongoing success of the Society – this work is now progressing.  Jo Dunlop has continued to prove her worth in her position supporting communications and policy and without her the role of Council would be much more challenging!  We have also been fortunate to have Tyrone Prins working with us in a locum capacity while Jean Hannon is on maternity leave.  Vasi – I feel I am handing over a highly functioning team!

It is also worth noting that the Society has positive working relationships with many other organisations which has been especially important over the last two years.  We have strong collaborative approaches to working with the RACP, AMA and the AAG.  We are also in the process of reaching a formal non-financial agreement with the Health Round Table to work closely together to better inform quality improvement efforts across Australia and New Zealand.

Thanks must go out to all of Council for their ongoing hard work and commitment to the Society, especially to the chairs of our committees who commit so much time to these roles.  Also, to the organisers of the postponed Melbourne ASM – their willingness to work so hard so that we can meet in a few months in Melbourne has been outstanding.  Special thanks must be made to Professor Vasikaran Naganathan who has been hugely supportive in his role of President-elect – our weekly discussions leave me confident our handover will be a smooth process.  Finally, thanks to all our member geriatricians and trainees – especially those of you in Victoria who have managed a difficult time with such tremendous professionalism.  I’m proud to be a geriatrician – hopefully I’ll see you all either in the virtual or in Melbourne in May!

JM