News Articles
Closure on cards for Vic maternity service
Date of Posting: 29-11-2022
Pregnant patients in the Victorian city of Geelong are searching for a new hospital after one of the largest in the region announced plans to close its maternity service. Epworth HealthCare made the "difficult announcement" on Monday, ci Read More...
Patients abusing, attacking doctors, staff
Date of Posting: 29-11-2022
NSW doctors and medical staff working in private practice say they need greater protection from aggressive patients, amid reports they are being threatened, sworn at, slapped and punched. An Australian Medical Association (AMA) survey of 378 medic Read More...
More research funds needed for arthritis
Date of Posting: 29-11-2022
A disease costing the healthcare system $14 billion a year and affecting one in seven Australians receives only one per cent of medical research funding. Arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions account for 13 per cent of the country's total d Read More...
NSW hires student doctors to ease pressure
Last Updated: 28-11-2022
More than 1000 NSW final-year medical students will be working in hospitals in paid positions to reduce pressure on hospitals in the state's latest bid to aid the system battered by COVID-19. Premier Dominic Perrottet said the Assistant in Med Read More...
Vic health dept in court over quarantine
Date of Posting: 28-11-2022
A hearing to determine if Victoria's health department will face trial over alleged hotel quarantine failures is set to begin. Worksafe charged the Department of Health in September 2021 with 58 breaches of the Occupational Health and Safety A Read More...
COVID protests after deadly fire in China
Date of Posting: 28-11-2022
Rare protests have broken out in China's far western Xinjiang region, with crowds shouting at hazmat-suited guards after a deadly fire triggered anger over their prolonged COVID-19 lockdown as nationwide infections set another record. Crowds c Read More...
'Exhausted' WA nurses walk off the job
Date of Posting: 27-11-2022
Angry nurses and midwives have defied the West Australian government and gathered in their thousands as part of a statewide strike. Staff walked off the job at hospitals across Perth and regional WA on Friday in an escalation of their bid to secur Read More...
Panic-buying as China's virus cases rise
Date of Posting: 27-11-2022
Residents of China's capital have emptied supermarket shelves and overwhelming delivery apps as the city government ordered accelerated construction of COVID-19 quarantine centres and field hospitals. Uncertainty and scattered, unconfirmed rep Read More...
Screen time for kids is as bad as they say
Date of Posting: 27-11-2022
Unconvinced that watching a few extra episodes of Bluey was having the devastating impact on children's health that some claimed, one researcher set out to prove screen time wasn't all bad. Newcastle University lecturer Emma Axelsson said Read More...
Tas hospital death after emergency 'wait'
Date of Posting: 26-11-2022
The death of a patient who allegedly spent two hours waiting for emergency department admission in Tasmania is under investigation. The state Greens say the woman, who died at the Royal Hobart Hospital on Tuesday, was "ramped" - the proc Read More...
Health system 'racist to Indigenous Aust'
Date of Posting: 26-11-2022
Going to an emergency department as an Aboriginal person is a profoundly more racist experience than for non-Indigenous Australians - and it could even prove fatal. A new report released on Thursday, based on 267 validated incidents of racism subm Read More...
IV 'cocktails' under regulator's spotlight
Date of Posting: 26-11-2022
Australians are at risk of wasting hundreds of dollars on intravenous infusion "cocktails" marketed with dodgy and misleading promises, the medical regulator warns. The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency has this week put s Read More...
Strategies For Ensuring Australian Hospitals Will Have Enough Nurses
Last Updated: 24-11-2022
On a global basis, there is a shortage of qualified nurses that is likely to get worse. Australia, like other countries with ageing populations, has been vulnerable to this problem. Experts at the Department of Health in Australia are forecasting a s Read More...
'Burnt out' nurses call for patient ratios
Date of Posting: 24-11-2022
Newly-trained nurse Vanessa is fed up after less than a year in NSW's health system. She regularly cares for six patients during a shift and sometimes as many as eight, despite union calls for nurse-to-patient ratios of no more than one to fou Read More...
Doctor groups slam prescription changes
Date of Posting: 24-11-2022
Doctors have slammed a move allowing pharmacists to prescribe antibiotics and reissue certain prescriptions under a Victorian Labor election promise, over fears it could increase antibiotic resistance and put patients' health at risk. Premier Read More...
Study identifies youth self-harm clusters
Date of Posting: 24-11-2022
Young people in Western Australia, the Northern Territory and South Australia exhibit the country's highest prevalence of self-harm. The Australian Youth Self-Harm Atlas has, for the first time, identified significant clusters and how triggeri Read More...
Rise in virus cases at major Tas hospital
Date of Posting: 23-11-2022
Tasmania's major hospital has tightened its coronavirus management processes after a rise in cases among patients and staff. The Royal Hobart Hospital escalated to level two, the third highest level of its COVID-19 management plan, on Wednesda Read More...
Alert for Japanese encephalitis outbreak
Date of Posting: 23-11-2022
Months of rain and flooding across large parts of NSW have created ideal conditions for an outbreak of Japanese encephalitis across the state. Agriculture Minister Dugald Saunders said mosquito numbers are expected to increase in the coming weeks. Read More...
NSW Nurses strike for 24 hours
Date of Posting: 23-11-2022
Nurses and midwives will walk off the job for 24-hours on Wednesday in the fourth such action this year over staffing and pay issues Rallies will be held across the state including Sydney's CBD, where union members will march along Macquarie S Read More...
US doctor defends 10-year-old's abortion
Date of Posting: 22-11-2022
An Indianapolis doctor who provided abortion drugs to a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio has defended her actions before a judge in an episode that drew attention in the weeks after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Dr. Caitlin Bernard Read More...
Aged care on brink of collapse
Date of Posting: 22-11-2022
Three in four aged care workers plan to quit within the next six months if they don't receive a hefty pay rise, bringing the sector already in crisis on the verge of collapse, a survey has revealed. The Health Services Union will on Tuesday re Read More...
Vic warned of disease-carrying mosquitoes
Date of Posting: 22-11-2022
Heavy rainfall and flooding has created prime breeding conditions for mosquitoes in Victoria, prompting authorities to issue a warning about serious diseases the insects carry. Increased breeding in inland and coastal areas means that while mosqui Read More...
Physios critical for long-COVID recovery
Last Updated: 21-11-2022
The APA has called on the Victorian government to improve access to physiotherapy for recovery of long COVID in response to the new COVID wave. Scott Willis, APA President, says long wait times, fragmented services and affordability factors signif Read More...
Five new variants in latest COVID-19 wave
Date of Posting: 21-11-2022
As COVID-19 cases again spike around Australia experts are hoping it will be a shorter, sharper wave that's in decline before Christmas. Australia officially recorded 75,590 cases of COVID last week, although with a decline in testing rates, t Read More...
Children as young as 10 self-harming
Date of Posting: 21-11-2022
Children as young as 10 are self-harming and suicide is being discussed among pupils in primary school playgrounds. More than 6000 adolescents aged 10-14 attended a NSW hospital emergency department for self-harm between 2014 and 2019 - with 2276 Read More...
WA seeks to modernise abortion laws
Date of Posting: 21-11-2022
Western Australians are being urged to have their say as the state government prepares to modernise the state's outdated abortion laws. Pregnancy termination laws have remained unchanged for almost 25 years, forcing some women to travel inters Read More...
Skin cancer advertising blitz launched
Date of Posting: 20-11-2022
A national $10 million summer skin cancer advertising blitz is ready for launch as new research shows Australian men are still not sun smart. Australia has one the highest rates of skin cancer in the world, with an estimated two in three people di Read More...
Top doctors warn of medical 'dark age'
Date of Posting: 20-11-2022
Australia needs to establish its own Centre for Disease Control to help lead a global coordinated effort to prevent a looming medical "dark age", doctors say. The nation's peak medical association warns superficial cuts could be dead Read More...
SA nurses accept new pay package
Date of Posting: 20-11-2022
South Australian nurses have accepted a new enterprise agreement that includes pay hikes and bonuses. The deal includes three per cent wage increases in each of the next three years along with two additional payments of $1500 in the first two year Read More...
COVID-19 cases soar amid fourth wave
Date of Posting: 19-11-2022
COVID-19 cases are soaring across Australia as another wave of the virus prompts authorities to appeal for public help in stemming infections. Cases in the nation's three most populous states have more than doubled in the space of two weeks, a Read More...
Menopause health hubs open in NSW
Date of Posting: 19-11-2022
The one-in-two women who experience significant menopause symptoms will soon have access to better treatment across NSW. The state government has committed about $40 million in the next four years to create four hubs offering specialised care, wit Read More...
Three measles cases detected in Victoria
Date of Posting: 19-11-2022
Victoria has recorded three new confirmed cases of measles in returned overseas travellers. The cases are all within one family, with two people infectious during a return flight from Singapore to Melbourne.[subscribe] They immediately sought m Read More...
HELP debt wiped for rural and remote NPs
Date of Posting: 18-11-2022
The Federal Government has announced that from November, nurse practitioners and doctors who live and work in rural and remote Australia will have their HELP debt wiped. The program is set to improve employment and retention of practitioners in ru Read More...
Half a million long COVID cases
Date of Posting: 17-11-2022
More than half a million Australians could experience long COVID with 110,000 of them suffering "significant impacts", according to modelling. Researchers from the University of Tasmania and Deakin University used three different models Read More...
Nasal vaccines could 'change' pandemic
Date of Posting: 17-11-2022
A nasally delivered COVID-19 vaccine developed in Australia is promising much better protection against the virus. Testing of the new nasal spray vaccine resulted in zero COVID transmission among mice, researchers from Sydney University and the Ce Read More...
Aussie relationships feeling the pressure
Date of Posting: 17-11-2022
Work, study, money, mental health and the pandemic have been the greatest challenges to Australian relationships, but many people do not seek help when problems arise. One in four people said work or study impacted their most important relationshi Read More...
4 Ways To Advance Your Career In The Field Of Mental Healthcare
Last Updated: 16-11-2022
Some individuals progress in their careers more quickly than others do. Perhaps you’re a mental healthcare professional who is hoping to discover how to hit the fast track to success in your career. If so, consider the following 4 ways you migh Read More...
NSW nurses to walk off job again
Date of Posting: 16-11-2022
Nurses across NSW will stop work again next week amid concerns about 'dangerous' staffing levels. Thousands of nurses will strike for 24 hours from 7am on November 23, leaving a skeleton staff in all public hospitals and health services.[s Read More...
Poppy seeds recalled amid poisonings
Date of Posting: 16-11-2022
A number of poppy seed products have been recalled after a series of poisonings around the country. Consumers are also being urged to check their pantries for seeds linked to the incidents after at least 12 people who developed unusual and severe Read More...
Date of Posting: 16-11-2022
New modelling has South Australia about a week away from the peak in COVID-19 cases during the current wave. Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier says the latest data suggests virus numbers should be declining in time for Christmas.[subscri Read More...
