Clinton
I have quite good knowledge of the business of general practice. There has been a chronic shortage of general practitioners for some years that, post-covid has become critical. Many General Proctices (like restaurants and other businesses) are now reducing opening hours because of a lack of staff. Ours has. Young doctors not prepared to do the hours of past generation, retiring doctors, declining income compared with specialists and reduced overseas trained doctors are all taking effect. In this environment, where any competent GP can get as much work as they want, for fees much higher than CASA pays for AVMED reviews, what does it say about the calbre of the (predominanltly) GP's that CASA gets to review pilot medicals after the DAME issues them?
Separeately, This week I was aghast to recieve a letter from AVMED ordering me to get another round of tests and discussing quite intimate details about my health records signed by someone titled "Medical Assessor". I put the persons name into Google which led me to a Linkedin profile recoding that this "Medical Assseeors" last job was as an accounts payable clerk and is studying a business degree part time. I'm still struggling to understand how cutting cheques qualifies one as a medical assesor.
So, following on from the author of the letter to Sen McDonald, why do we have (in my case) a suburban GP in a remote city and an ex accounts payable clerk overriding my DAME who is a senior medical specialist and held in high regard by the medical community who has passed the CASA 3 month course to become a DAME ?
On paper at least the new principle medical officer - Dr Kate Manderson - looks like the most practical PMO we have had in years and certainly a change from the years when CASA apponted academics to the role. I'm hoping desperately that she makes a change.