News Articles
3 orthopaedic surgeries that might be doing patients (and their pockets) more harm than good
Last Updated: 12-04-2022
Orthopaedic surgery (surgery for problems related to bones, joints, tendons and ligaments) is the third most common reason Australians go under the knife. Last year, more than 100,000 orthopaedic surgeries were performed in Australian public Read More...
New bone stabilising implant hastens mobility
Last Updated: 12-04-2022
A new implant designed by QUT biomedical engineers to stabilise a long bone fracture above the knee and enable earlier mobility has been used for the first time in an implant operation. The Biphasic Plate was recently used by a surgeon in Swizterl Read More...
Funding boost for mental health
Last Updated: 12-04-2022
Victorians will get better access to mental health care as the federal government splashes nearly $250 million on more support services. In a separate announcement, Canberra is also putting in $15 million to research the often deadly Mitochondrial Read More...
'Telephone' voting for COVID-19 iso cases
Date of Posting: 11-04-2022
Australians will still be able to vote on election day if stuck in COVID-19 isolation as a confirmed case or close contact. The Australian Electoral Commission says it will roll out a telephone voting system for those subject to isolation orders o Read More...
Rural study leads to more doctors
Date of Posting: 11-04-2022
The rural health workforce could be bolstered if medical schools accepted more students from the bush and offered more training and placements in country settings, a new study suggests. The study, involving rural clinical schools from 11 major Aus Read More...
Bacteria turning UTIs into killers
Date of Posting: 10-04-2022
An increase of drug-resistant bacteria in the community is turning simple illnesses like urinary tract infections into killers. UTIs affect half of all women and one in 20 men over their lifetimes and can usually be treated with a course of antibi Read More...
Heart failure linked to disadvantage
Date of Posting: 10-04-2022
Fact: one Australian has either a heart attack or stroke every four minutes. Together, they account for around 25,000 deaths a year. The risk factors are well known: high blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking, diabetes, poor diet, alcoholism, lack Read More...
Flu jab mandate for Vic health care staff
Date of Posting: 09-04-2022
Flu vaccinations are now mandatory for all Victorian healthcare workers. Public and private hospital staff, ambulance service workers and those in public residential aged care will need to receive their annual flu jab before August 15 each year un Read More...
SA girl in hospital with meningococcal
Date of Posting: 09-04-2022
A two-year-old girl has been diagnosed with invasive meningococcal disease in South Australia. The girl from metropolitan Adelaide is in a stable condition in hospital, SA Health confirmed on Friday.[subscribe] Multiple people who had close con Read More...
Japanese encephalitis hits NT feral pigs
Date of Posting: 09-04-2022
Health authorities have detected mosquito-borne Japanese encephalitis in feral pigs in the Northern Territory, raising fears for residents in nearby areas. More than 30 people across Australia have become infected with the virus in recent months a Read More...
Rural mums face fearful pregnancy journey
Date of Posting: 08-04-2022
Alison Pearson stood on the side of the road, cut off by floodwaters, scared she was losing her baby. Ms Pearson, from Cobar in western NSW, was on a 320km round trip to Bourke Hospital for an ultrasound after she experienced signs she might be mi Read More...
Chronic shortage of psychiatrists for vets
Date of Posting: 08-04-2022
The demands of treating mentally ill veterans are so challenging and the work so poorly paid, there is a chronic shortage of psychiatrists for those with serious psychiatric injuries, a royal commission has been told. Geoff Lazar, a lawyer with th Read More...
Climate change poses looming health crisis
Date of Posting: 08-04-2022
Australia is yet to properly acknowledge climate change as a health crisis with limited efforts to understand what's coming, researchers say. Ahead of the federal election, the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences has issued a sta Read More...
Early detection of lung cancer to be investigated
Date of Posting: 08-04-2022
Dr Annalicia Vaughan from the Centenary UTS Centre for Inflammation is the successful recipient of the Kenyon Foundation Inflammation Award for 2022. The Award, valued at $20,000, will support Dr Vaughan’s study into identifying new microbia Read More...
NSW health workers stop work over pay
Date of Posting: 07-04-2022
Thousands of NSW health workers have ramped up pressure on the state government by walking off the job as they demand recognition for fronting up to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the state's wages cap, public sector pay increases cannot exceed Read More...
AFLW player in vaccine mandate challenge
Date of Posting: 07-04-2022
Lawyers for AFLW player Deni Varnhagen want to cross examine South Australia's chief health officer as part of a Supreme Court challenge to the state's COVID-19 vaccination mandate. The 29-year-old was kept off field and her shifts as a ca Read More...
Anti-COVID vax pharmacist banned from work
Date of Posting: 07-04-2022
A suspended Melbourne pharmacist has been accused of spreading "dangerous nonsense" about COVID-19 health restrictions and vaccinations in her bid to resume practising. Maria Stogiannis, who runs a Yarraville pharmacy, was suspended by t Read More...
Tensions over WA ambulance response delays
Date of Posting: 06-04-2022
Western Australia's health minister has criticised the state's ambulance operator amid a blowout in response times and ramping. About 10 per cent of St John WA paramedics are on leave after becoming infected with COVID-19 or being identifi Read More...
NT scraps COVID-19 vaccine pass for pubs
Date of Posting: 06-04-2022
Drinkers, diners and gamblers in the Northern Territory will no longer have to prove they are vaccinated against COVID-19 to enter licensed premises. Chief Health Officer Hugh Heggie has scrapped the vaccine pass for entertainment venues.[subscrib Read More...
Cannabis causes more cancers than tobacco
Date of Posting: 06-04-2022
Australians might think twice before puffing on a cannabis joint to ease their physical pain, with a new study finding it is more cancerous than smoking cigarettes. The research, conducted by University of Western Australia Professors Gary Hulse a Read More...
Date of Posting: 05-04-2022
Almost one in three people living with multiple sclerosis in Australia don't have access to condition-specific nursing care, an advocacy body says. MS Australia on Tuesday released its MS Nurse Care in Australia Report, which surveyed 1417 peo Read More...
Government failing on rural health
Date of Posting: 05-04-2022
Ask a medical student why they want to work in the bush, and they will just laugh. That is what a major healthcare provider says about students who have committed to work in rural Australia in return for a government-funded university place.[subsc Read More...
Only one in 100 breathe quality air
Date of Posting: 05-04-2022
The UN health agency says nearly everybody in the world breathes air that doesn't meet its standards for air quality, calling for more action to reduce fossil-fuel use, which generates pollutants that cause respiratory and blood-flow problems and Read More...
World-first research scientific breakthrough set to make paralysed people walk again
Date of Posting: 05-04-2022
Professor Tal Dvir is the extraordinary man behind a world-first breakthrough which uses patient tissue samples and technology to transform injured spinal cords. It is done via a process that mimics the development of the spinal cord in human embr Read More...
Post-COVID psychosis occurs in people with no prior history
Last Updated: 05-04-2022
Far from the respiratory disease it seemed at first, COVID can impact almost all parts of the body, including the brain. For a small number of people, COVID infection may be accompanied by an episode of post-COVID psychosis, a break from reality w Read More...
Brain scans show weakened neural connections in kids at risk of bipolar disorder
Date of Posting: 05-04-2022
A study that showed changes in the brain in those at risk of developing bipolar disorder raises new hope about early intervention. A brain imaging study of young people at high risk of developing bipolar disorder has for the first time found evide Read More...
Budget leaves mental health still waiting on much needed reform
Date of Posting: 05-04-2022
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) has welcomed the $648.6 million of new mental health investment outlined in the budget but says key reforms are still required to improve patient care for all Australians. The Read More...
Virus cases rise as booster rollout begins
Date of Posting: 04-04-2022
More than half a million Australians are dealing with COVID-19 infections as authorities begin to roll out a second booster for vulnerable groups. Experts say a fourth jab will be critical in the effort to protect at-risk Australians ahead of wint Read More...
COVID-cautious NZ eases virus restrictions
Date of Posting: 04-04-2022
New Zealand is removing vaccine passes as it considers further relaxing COVID-19 restrictions beyond the Omicron wave. From 11.59pm on Monday, Kiwis will no longer require a vaccine passport to enter many businesses or attend events.[subscribe] Read More...
NSW health workers to strike for pay rise
Date of Posting: 04-04-2022
Thousands of NSW healthcare workers will walk off the job demanding higher wages from the government, following strikes by paramedics and nurses. Under the state's wages cap, public sector pay increases can not legally exceed 2.5 per cent but Read More...
Vics launch $1.5bn elective surgery plan
Date of Posting: 03-04-2022
Victoria will invest $1.5 billion to address its growing elective surgery waitlist as part of a catch-up scheme that will see surgical capacity increased by a quarter. The COVID Catch-Up Plan is designed to raise capacity to 125 per cent by 2023, Read More...
Harder to age well without comforts
Date of Posting: 03-04-2022
Energy costs are making it harder for Australians to age comfortably and healthily in their own homes. The two are are inexorably linked, says Queensland University of Technology professor Ross Gordon, who wants policy and programs to take a holis Read More...
Winter booster rollout to start on Monday
Date of Posting: 03-04-2022
Older and vulnerable Australians can receive a second COVID-19 booster dose ahead of a predicted surge of winter infections. The groups will include those 65 or older, Indigenous Australians aged at least 50, disability care residents and the immu Read More...
Aged care pay rise not in federal budget
Date of Posting: 03-04-2022
A pay rise for aged care workers has not been budgeted for this year, the federal government has confirmed. Government Services Minister Linda Reynolds said the government would review any decisions by the independent regulator before committing t Read More...
Symptoms 'don't indicate viral shedding'
Date of Posting: 03-04-2022
The world's first "human challenge" trial in which volunteers were deliberately exposed to the coronavirus has found that symptoms had no effect on how likely an infected person is to pass the disease on to others. The findings under Read More...
Qld warns elective surgeries could be cut
Date of Posting: 01-04-2022
Elective surgeries at some Queensland hospitals may need to be suspended as the number of furloughed health workers reaches more than 3300. Health Minister Yvette D'Ath on Friday said elective surgeries could be affected at some hospitals in r Read More...
No quick fix for Vic ambos 'boys club'
Date of Posting: 01-04-2022
There is no quick fix for a pervasive "boys club" culture within Ambulance Victoria, the state's human rights commissioner concedes. The final report in the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission's review into wo Read More...
NSW nurses walk off job, demand more staff
Date of Posting: 01-04-2022
Thousands of nurses across NSW have gone on strike for 24 hours for the second time in 10 years, to pressure the state government to accept their demands for better pay and mandated nurse-to-patient ratios. Nurses from up to 170 hospitals took par Read More...
ACN welcomes investment in nursing leadership
Date of Posting: 01-04-2022
he Australian College of Nursing (ACN) is pleased its calls for greater investment in developing and enhancing nurse leadership skills has been answered in last night’s Federal Budget. The Budget contained a $1 million matching co-contributi Read More...
EOFY tax tips and advice for nurses
Date of Posting: 01-04-2022
Article to be attributed to Mark Chapman, Director of Communications for H&R Block Australia With the end of the financial year rapidly approaching, it won’t be long before its time to lodge your income tax return for 2021/22. To get the Read More...
