Australian Doctor 22nd Aug 2025 | Page 17

ausdoc. com. au 22 AUGUST 2025

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VIEWS FROM YOUR ONLINE COMMUNITY

The pearlclutchers need to calm down

From hero to pariah in 72 hours: The mushroom murder trial’ s fallout for Dr Chris Webster

Dr Webster’ s comments about Erin Patterson were reported after her conviction for multiple murders.

No breach of patient confidentiality here; the facts are public knowledge. The doctor described his understandably intense feelings in unvarnished vernacular.

Some may take issue with the choice of words, but no harm has been done, and there is certainly no need for an official reprimand. All of the pearl-clutchers should go and have a cup of tea and a lie-down. Dr Chris Middleton Gastroenterologist, Hobart, Tas

Put under this sort of pressure, I would have needed to blow off steam. I do not know if I would have done it to a journalist, but if a journalist had been sympathetic and had been the only person around who wanted to listen, then maybe.

I am not going to judge or hold someone to an impossible standard. Doctors are human. But I do know that anonymous jerks on social media shoot the messenger and inflict pain, and rural GPs need all the support they can get. Dr Nerida Paterson GP, Newcastle, NSW

I have always considered that impressions about a patient stemming directly from a consultation should be treated as confidential— regardless of whether the patient becomes a convicted criminal.

Giving evidence in court is one thing, but public broadcasting of a doctor’ s opinions about a patient’ s personality, from information gained in a professional consultation, is unfortunate. Professor Cliff Rosendahl GP, Brisbane, Qld

Self-referral pushing patients away?

No GP? No problem:

State lets all pregnant women self-refer to maternity care

Unfortunately, this will now lead to many women in the public sector never seeing a medically trained professional throughout their entire pregnancy. By effectively removing the GP from their care, there will be no-one to offer a full examination.

Sick and tired of old-school presenteeism

Are younger doctors really rorting their sick leave entitlements?

The hint is in the name: sick leave‘ entitlements’. You are entitled to take sick leave at a time when you feel you need it. The attitude of shaming people for taking sick leave as and when required is archaic.

I thought we had got past the culture of presenteeism thanks to COVID-19, but it seems like we are slipping back into the bad old ways as a profession.

Dr Katherine Senior Medical practitioner, Adelaide, SA

Public maternity care is now largely midwifery centric with obstetric rescue, meaning a woman will only be referred to a doctor once the midwife realises there is an issue. Direct-entry midwives are not trained to perform cardiovascular examination.

Dr Gino Pecoraro Obstetrician gynaecologist,

Brisbane, Qld

I suspect they do not really understand how much care we provide in the first 16 weeks.

I tend to have four appointments with pregnant patients as a standard— more if there are issues. The pre-10-week appointment is pretty critical for things like teratogens and infection screening.

I am sceptical that the public system will be providing the same week intake appointments.

Dr Kyla Bremner GP, Canberra, ACT

I worry this system will encourage more disadvantaged women to defer self-referral through complacency or lack of knowledge until it is too late to pick up abnormalities.

Dr Chris Fogarty GP, Warragul, Vic

This may not be such a bad thing. Here in Victoria, the maternity hospitals have such an onerous and long referral form that it takes 30 minutes

to simply generate a referral.

I have to let patients know this when they attend for the referral, and they are not always happy to pay for a long consult fee.

Dr Rajeev Sharma GP, Melbourne, Vic

Red meat rhetoric and sweet talk

Dr James Muecke reverses tack on a sugar tax campaign— here’ s why

Dr Muecke is right in many ways: our national dietary guidelines are heavily influenced by those from 1800s US— guidelines that are prejudiced against meat and seafood and pro broad-acre cropping.

The insistence on a diet that fails to balance energy against nutrition has directly influenced the rise and rise of overweight and inflammatory metabolic disease. Surely 100g of wholemeal flour in bread cannot possibly be better for you than 100g of red meat, and yet almost no dietitian would recommend red meat daily.

We have seen too many kneejerk reactions to public health issues. Many end up like new tax laws— abused by those who play the game at the expense of actual benefits.

The processed food industry is far too established to be brought down by a sugar tax. And anyway, sugar is just one enemy. Many, if not most, affordable foods are low-nutrition, high-energy products. People need to know what to eat to maintain a healthy diet, as opposed to just paying more for the rubbish making them ill.

Dr Louis Fenelon GP, Gold Coast, Qld

Your word is your bonded placement

Medical degrees that bind thousands of doctors to rural practice: an antiquated policy?

I was a bonded medical student in the 1960s in Queensland. The financial support from the government, actually meaning the taxpayer, allowed me to complete my degree in 1970.

I served eight years in a onedoctor rural community and gained more medical expertise there in six months than I would have in six years in a tertiary hospital. Rural practice should be mandatory for young doctors.

Dr Jeff Lincoln GP, Gold Coast, Qld

As a former country( now city) GP who supervised many medical students and worked with many GP registrars over more than a decade, what I noticed was that the wishes of a spouse to move closer to family usually trumped the desire of a trainee to stay and continue to work in a rural setting.

Many of our lovely and very capable registrars stayed on for a year or two after fellowing but then ultimately departed for the city or the coast, citing family reasons of this sort. It was a great pity to lose them.

I do not think bonded places are really going to change this scenario, which is a shame because being a GP in the country is awesome and far superior to being one in a big city.

Dr Rachel Glasson GP, Wagga Wagga, NSW

Potential medical students sign these contracts without a full understanding of what they have signed and the long-term nature of them; they just want to practise medicine, and many are under the age of 18 when they sign.

Dr Brenda Murrison GP, Bunbury, WA

I am disappointed that so many students signed these contracts without integrity.

I was a bonded medical student, and numerous other options presented themselves during my early career that I turned down because I was bonded.

If I sign a mortgage, I cannot suddenly change the rules. Why is it okay to expect not to honour a contract?

Dr Leigh Grant Obstetrician gynaecologist,

Mackay, Qld

Years of practice makes perfect

There’ s no shame in age-related cognitive decline, but patients deserve doctors at their sharpest

Older doctors are generally brilliant at mentoring younger doctors, seeing elderly patients and taking their time with patients, as they generally do not need the money anymore.

Some of the best doctors I know are in their 80s, and as long as they recognise their limitations, which the ones I know do, they are fine.

For the profession to lose them would be a waste and a tragedy.

Dr David Max GP, Alice Springs, NT