News Articles
Satisfying relationships are good for women's health
Date of Posting: 22-02-2023
Toxic relationships really can be as bad for women's health as obesity, physical inactivity or overindulging in alcohol, a study has found. According to the University of Queensland study, the secret to health and wellbeing could be a quality Read More...
Staying fit and active 'best way to stave off dementia'
Last Updated: 22-02-2023
Staying active throughout adulthood could help stave off dementia though even smaller bouts of exercise may help, British research suggests. A long-term study found that people who exercise as they age are more likely to have good brain health tha Read More...
More young Indigenous Victorians dying by suicide
Date of Posting: 22-02-2023
Indigenous Victorians are dying by suicide at a rate nearly three times higher than non-Indigenous people, new data shows. About 108 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people took their own lives between 2018 and 2022 compared to 3429 non-Indig Read More...
The time is now to discuss future health care preferences
Last Updated: 20-02-2023
As health professionals, we know that health does not always run according to plan. Treatment may be needed when an individual is unable to participate in their own decision-making. This is especially true at the end of life with over 50 percent of p Read More...
11% of First Nation babies missed in birth data
Last Updated: 20-02-2023
A study from the Royal Women’s Hospital and La Trobe University confirms Aboriginal, and Torres Strait Islander families receive high standards of care when patients are correctly identified. However, new data reveals that 11 per cent of Fir Read More...
Mixed reactions to proposed pharmacy prescription trial
Date of Posting: 20-02-2023
Health Minister Mark Butler has welcomed a trial allowing pharmacists to prescribe the contraceptive pill as an innovative solution to address health care constraints. If re-elected in March, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has promised a $5 million Read More...
More virus vaccines rolled out in South Australia
Last Updated: 20-02-2023
South Australia has begun rolling out additional doses of the COVID-19 vaccine as local research confirms those who are unvaccinated face a higher risk of serious illness or death. The South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute analyse Read More...
Taxi company charged over deaths of wheelchair users
Date of Posting: 20-02-2023
A taxi company has been charged over the deaths of two passengers whose wheelchairs tipped backwards during separate incidents in northern Victoria. Echuca-Moama Taxi Group is facing four charges brought by WorkSafe of failing to ensure people oth Read More...
Remote SA health service to check on vital signs
Date of Posting: 19-02-2023
A remote health monitoring service has been established across regional South Australia with a view to reducing hospital admissions. Eligible patients will be able to have their vital signs measured at home using a special kit with results assesse Read More...
Aussies save millions from cheaper medicines policy
Date of Posting: 19-02-2023
More than 1.6 million discounted prescriptions were filled in January after the maximum co-payment for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme was discounted. The gap reduction from $42.50 to $30 means a person on a single medication a month could save Read More...
Australia's first heart hospital to open in Melbourne
Date of Posting: 19-02-2023
Australia's first dedicated heart hospital is set to open in Melbourne, more than eight years after it became a key state election issue. Premier Daniel Andrews and Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas toured the new Victorian Heart Hospital in Cl Read More...
National plan to tackle long COVID being developed
Date of Posting: 18-02-2023
Australia's top doctor has confirmed federal health officials are developing an official strategy in how to deal with cases of long COVID. Speaking before a parliamentary inquiry, chief medical officer Paul Kelly said the health department had Read More...
National register will stop 'prolific' sperm donors
Last Updated: 18-02-2023
A national sperm donation register would stop "prolific" sperm donors from creating more families than legally allowed, a peak fertility body says. The Fertility Society of Australia and New Zealand is concerned online services are helpi Read More...
Why partners could hamper smokers' attempts to quit
Date of Posting: 18-02-2023
People looking to give up cigarettes are much more likely to succeed if they don't live with other smokers, a study suggests. The study looked at a 10-year period and predicted the number of people smoking would fall by 43 per cent across the Read More...
Doctors reported for inappropriate conduct rising
Date of Posting: 16-02-2023
The head of Australia's health watchdog admits the number of doctors being reported for inappropriate behaviour has been increasing for several years. Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency chief executive Martin Fletcher told a Sena Read More...
Nursing Careers: From The Hospital to the Community and Beyond
Date of Posting: 16-02-2023
Nursing is one of the fastest growing professions in the world and has been ranked as the most trusted profession for 17 consecutive years. This demand for nurses has been driven by an aging population, advances in technology, and a growing focus on Read More...
Scientists develop new vaccine for encephalitis in pigs
Date of Posting: 16-02-2023
The spread of Japanese encephalitis in Australia could slow thanks to a new novel vaccine aimed at domesticated pigs. Severe disease from JEV is rare but potentially fatal in humans, and while it cannot be passed from pigs to people, mosquitoes ca Read More...
Improved analysis reveals higher rates of self-harm
Date of Posting: 16-02-2023
NSW has a clearer picture of how often people self-harm after a new technique tracked down 140 per cent more suicide-related hospital presentations. While standard diagnostic codes used by doctors showed about 21,000 cases from 2016 to 2020, Grant Read More...
Overworked, burned-out NSW nurses planning to quit
Date of Posting: 15-02-2023
The impact of COVID-19 and increased workloads are affecting NSW nurses' mental health and wellbeing, and one in three are planning to quit their jobs in the next year. A survey of 2300 nurses commissioned by the NSW Nurses and Midwives' A Read More...
Victorian children waiting longer for elective surgery
Date of Posting: 15-02-2023
Elective surgery wait times have increased at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital, with some waiting more than a year for treatment. Victoria's latest health performance data for the last quarter of 2022 showed the average wait time Read More...
'Alarm bells' as remote Australians live shorter lives
Date of Posting: 15-02-2023
People in remote NSW have far shorter lives than city-dwellers and are much more likely to die from preventable illnesses or suicide. The Australia Institute has revealed the alarming life expectancy divide between the city and the bush in a repor Read More...
Young leaders at the front line of ending youth suicide
Last Updated: 14-02-2023
A teenager came to Marlie Thomas looking for help, worn down by years of trauma, unable to speak or look anyone in the eye. Ms Thomas, a rural mental health support worker, was once that girl.[subscribe] "Young people walk through the door Read More...
Nine in 10 support action to stop children vaping
Date of Posting: 14-02-2023
Almost nine in 10 Australian adults believe the government should take action to prevent young people from becoming addicted to e-cigarettes, a report says. The finding out of the Cancer Council Victoria's Centre for Behavioural Research in Ca Read More...
Employing clients can fix disability care, hearing told
Date of Posting: 14-02-2023
Placing Australians living with disability in positions of influence over service delivery can address sustained and invisible forms of negligence, a Royal Commission has been told. Visual artist, writer, performer and wheelchair user Sam Petersen Read More...
Dr Charlie Teo faces disciplinary health care hearing
Date of Posting: 13-02-2023
High-profile Sydney brain surgeon Charlie Teo is facing a five-day disciplinary hearing before the Health Care Complaints Commission, after allegations of operating without medical oversight. In August 2021, the controversial neurosurgeon was rest Read More...
Royal commission into NSW health funding a must
Date of Posting: 12-02-2023
The Health Services Union says the bulging $33 billion NSW health budget must be scrutinised by a royal commission because it is not reaching patients or practitioners. A union-commissioned report entitled "Reform Critical - A Fragmented Heal Read More...
Aussie hearts paying the price for poor COVID routines
Date of Posting: 12-02-2023
New heart research appears to confirm fears COVID-19 has taken a toll on the health of Australians by confining them indoors, deprived of opportunities to exercise and exposed to poor diets and sleep routines. Nearly half of more than 6000 people Read More...
First time dangerous virus found outside Murray River
Last Updated: 11-02-2023
Health practitioners were reported for alleged misconduct at almost double the rate in the last year, according to Australia's health regulator. Botched procedures, inappropriate sexual relationships with patients, and wrongfully issuing vacci Read More...
Shock number of health practitioners referred
Date of Posting: 11-02-2023
Health practitioners were reported for alleged misconduct at almost double the rate in the last year, according to Australia's health regulator. Botched procedures, inappropriate sexual relationships with patients, and wrongfully issuing vacci Read More...
Helipad still months away for major regional hospital
Date of Posting: 11-02-2023
It will be months before helicopters can once again land at a major Tasmanian hospital. Launceston General Hospital's helipad was relocated on January 1 because it no longer complied with the latest national aviation regulator requirements.[su Read More...
Northwest Tasmanian maternity service 'unsafe'
Date of Posting: 11-02-2023
Maternity services at a northwest Tasmanian hospital are unsafe and overwhelmed, forcing expectant mothers to travel while in labour, the peak body for Australian doctors claims. The Australian Medical Association (AMA) says it is receiving increa Read More...
SA premier says fed budget must ease GP crisis
Date of Posting: 09-02-2023
The federal budget must include a serious plan to address the nation's GP shortage or risk leaving health in a "perpetual state of crisis", South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas says. The premier said the big issue putting press Read More...
Disabled visa children granted health support in SA
Date of Posting: 09-02-2023
Children with a disability born in Australia to parents on temporary visas will get access to help in South Australia under an $11 million program. The funding, over five years, will provide practical and therapeutic support, including the provisi Read More...
Paramedics sleep in cars amid rural housing squeeze
Date of Posting: 09-02-2023
Paramedics say they are sleeping in their cars, living in tents and caravans, or staying in pubs because of a severe housing shortage across regional and rural NSW. The Australian Paramedics Association of NSW says many rural officers cannot find Read More...
NT drive to recruit more healthcare staff
Date of Posting: 08-02-2023
The NT government will address a shortage of medical, nursing and health staff for the Territory through a new recruitment campaign. Targeting healthcare professionals in Australia and overseas, the program will be funded by a previously announced Read More...
NSW hospitals choked with elderly waiting for aged care
Date of Posting: 08-02-2023
Up to 30 per cent of patients in NSW public hospitals would be better off in more appropriate facilities such as aged care homes, the health minister says. Hospitals are increasingly being filled with patients who could be treated by a GP, as well Read More...
All adults to be offered fresh COVID-19 booster
Date of Posting: 08-02-2023
Australia's COVID-19 vaccination rollout is shifting towards a flu-style program, with all adults who haven't had the virus or a booster in the last six months eligible for another dose. Health Minister Mark Butler said the government acce Read More...
Health insurer opts to delay planned rise to premium
Date of Posting: 07-02-2023
One of the country's largest health insurance providers has held off on increasing its premiums ahead of a planned annual rise later this year. NIB said it would defer its planned increase of 2.72 per cent from the usual April 1 date until the Read More...
Being married may help prevent type 2 diabetes
Date of Posting: 07-02-2023
Being married may help prevent type 2 diabetes, regardless of whether the relationship is happy, research suggests. Previous studies have found that happy marriages confer a range of health benefits compared with being single, including a longer l Read More...
Report reveals health crisis in rural Australia
Date of Posting: 06-02-2023
Australians living in regional and remote areas are likely to die nearly two decades earlier than their city counterparts, a new report has found. The report by the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) found rural Australians faced service gaps, fun Read More...
