CPMC workforce workshop
22 May 2024
ANZCA leaders attended the Council of Presidents of Medical Colleges (CPMC) meeting in Sydney this week. The two-day meeting, also attended by Federal Health Minister Mark Butler, included a workshop on addressing the pressing health workforce issues facing Australia.
Representatives from 15 specialist medical colleges joined senior officials from state and federal health departments; the Medical Board of Australia; the Australian Medical Council; the Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association and the Medical Deans Australia and New Zealand; and other stakeholders at the meeting that included a health workforce workshop.
On Tuesday, the colleges assured Minister Butler (who joined via Zoom) that they are ready and willing to work with his government and his state and territory counterparts on improving patient access to medical care as long as patient safety is not compromised.
The medical colleges spent a significant portion of the two-day meeting discussing how to address doctor shortages, particularly in rural and remote areas.
A number of proposals to increase medical access for Australians has been put to CPMC by government, such as changing the process to allow easier access for overseas trained doctors to work in Australia. The colleges assured government they want to help address workforce issues without compromising patient safety.
The meeting provided a good opportunity for colleges to share individual initiatives that will help address workforce shortages and to provide government with a single voice for specialist doctors responding to inquiries and reports including the “Independent review of Australia's regulatory settings relating to overseas health practitioners” (the Kruk report), the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman (NHPO) – “Accreditation processes review”, the Australian Medical Council (AMC) Communication protocol: accreditation of specialist medical training sites/posts” and the AMC Standards Review.
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About the CPMC
The Council of Presidents of Medical Colleges represent the following medical colleges:
- Australasian College for Emergency Medicine
- Australasian College of Dermatologists
- Australasian College of Sport and Exercise Physicians
- Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists and Faculty of Pain Medicine
- Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine
- College of Intensive Care Medicine of Australia and NZ
- Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators
- Royal Australasian College of Physicians
- Royal Australasian College of Surgeons
- Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
- Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists
- Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists
- Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists
- Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
- Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia
- Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons