|
June 15, 2008
It could turn out to be nothing at all, but the dynamics between the AMA and the Rudd Government seem to have taken a rather nasty turn since the announcements on the private health care rebate and the proposal that perhaps Medicare should be more widely accessible to other health care professionals. The AMA takes a rather dim view of both, as you'd reasonably expect from those with vested interests.
The AMA is, after all, a union by another name representing the collective interests of a particular industry. It's the AMA's job to protect its members' interests regardless of the interests of anyone else, including the anyone elses who don't conform to their idea of what a proper medical practitioner is, and the anyone elses who happen to be the general public.
Any decent government worthy of the name has considered union busting a priority of the highest order since, well, yeah. But unions can be notoriously difficult to bust. They tend to do stuff that makes you wish you could just call in the storm troopers and rottweilers and be done with it.
Not saying it's directly related to the aforementioned decisions, but the AMA has decided to pull out of the Northern Territory intervention.
The Australian Medical Association's (AMA) head, Rosanna Capolingua, says the group wants no further involvement in recruiting doctors for the Northern Territory intervention.
She says working with the Government during the first stage has been fraught with problems and too costly.
"Unfortunately the spin that this Government has put on the AMA's activity is something that has made us very wary of engaging directly with government under a contract to deliver services for them," she said.
Hmmm. The spin this Government has put on the AMA's activity eh? What spin would that be? What activity exactly?
Rudd's response:
After arriving back in the country from an Asian tour, Mr Rudd said the Government would look for other organisations to recruit medical personnel.
"The AMA will make up its own decisions on this, that is a matter for them," he said.
"Our objective is to deliver the services that are needed in Indigenous communities and we'll work with whomever is available to do that."
Well whomever is available probably won't include professionals who would help if they had access to Medicare. Maybe the Rudd Government could get busy recruiting a bit of scab labour, and a few security guards with big dogs?
|
Lyn,
the AMA has consistently set its face against the reforms to the health system.