The Board held its first virtual Conversations with the Board event on Tuesday 15 September, for members in the Northern Territory (NT).

The NT is a unique place in Australia and many Fellows and trainees move to the NT to experience medicine and patient populations unlike anywhere else they may practice over their careers, as well as to fill the need for quality specialist care.

We thank the members who joined the Board for an open and productive discussion. Here are some highlights from the discussions held.

Professor John Wilson AM
RACP President

COVID-19 impact

NT members asked us about the College’s contribution to management of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Very early on, the College made the decision to convene COVID-19 Expert Advisory Groups, tasked with protecting the cornerstones of our College: education, policy and advocacy and the continuation of day-to-day business operations. These groups have been incredibly effective and successful in their work, addressing examinations, personal protective equipment (PPE), and telehealth, and ensuring College operations continue.

Telehealth

We understand the importance of delivering care equitably through telehealth and the significance of this for members and their patients in remote areas of the NT. We have been advocating strongly for telehealth medicine; the telehealth initiative has been very successful to date and we are working hard to ensure this will continue. We thank the Policy and Advocacy team for supporting us in our liaison with the Commonwealth Government to make this happen.

PPE

We continue to push for better access to PPE for frontline members. A survey was conducted in late July 2020 for all practicing Australian-based members asking about their use of and access to PPE. A key finding from this was that almost 20% of members who responded had had to access their own PPE. These results continue to assist us in informing ongoing College advocacy.

Vaccinations

Protecting our wider community remains of utmost importance. In late August, the Policy and Advocacy team met with Professor Kristine Macartney, Director of the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS), to discuss the potential advocacy opportunities relating to COVID-19 vaccines and vaccination planning, including production and trials within Australia. We continue to hold discussions with Professor Macartney and are positive about the work happening in this area.

Operations

College staff are working from home where possible. This has given us the opportunity to think about the way the College will conduct its business and how we best utilise our member fees.

Policy and Advocacy

Our College’s Policy and Advocacy initiatives are overseen by the College Policy and Advocacy Council (CPAC), which reflects on the needs of members and determines the College’s policy priorities. Current priorities include climate change and health, obesity and health inequities.

Our policy and advocacy work is of utmost importance and we acknowledge that many find it difficult to visualise the scope and breadth of work undertaken in this area. We will continue improve the way we communicate the work that our College is undertaking to address this and welcome feedback