Queensland's Latest Cut

I hope that during this worldwide pandemic that yourselves and your family remain well and safe. These are hard times and I know many of you work in private as small business people with all the repercussions for staff and on expenses until the virus leaves us.

I wrote this newsletter initially at the beginning of last week and already it was out of date. Below are links to the RACS and other Colleges regarding elective surgery which have since been responded to by the communiques from the Director General and the Prime Minister.

What makes a case urgent or not? Artificial lists of categorised procedures don't always relate to urgency. Some of the specialist societies have issued guidelines. In the end, the decision regarding urgency and safety can be made only by the clinician. We are the ones who can judge who will deteriorate as an emergency without surgery. We have the training and expertise to apply our professional judgment to the risks for the patient and the staff undergoing surgery in this time of straightened resources including critical care and PPE, against the risk of the pathology or condition with delayed surgery. I know we are all weighing all those factors whilst triaging our public and private lists and outpatient clinics. We also need a system of review so that we can monitor patients who have been postponed (especially "cat 2") so that patients aren't lost or deteriorate unacceptably.

During this time, remembering our oaths to care and our shared humanity; we are prepared to help colleagues treating patients. We will be required to provide assistance to our fellow specialist medical and surgical colleagues; in the emergency departments, ICU and elsewhere across the state. Whilst we will be asked to provide this help, we need to be careful not to manage conditions independently outside of our areas of expertise or scope of safe practice. We need also to both protect and assist our junior staff who will be asked to do more than Fellows; face to face with trauma, surgical illness and COVID itself.

As you may have heard the ASC, Examinations and Courses have been cancelled or postponed and likewise some of our state-based activities are also affected. The Charity Ball originally to be held on 5 September 2020 has now been moved to 6 March 2021 but will still be at Howard Smith Wharves in Brisbane. Earlier this year we made the decision to move all activities in the future to create a month of activities in November each year – the Charity Ball and the State Conference will be outside the November calendar of events. Please read the relevant article below for details, working towards holding these activities will depend on COVID-19.

Our college is working with the examiners and specialty boards to try to chart a course for trainees who are not progressing as they should with loss of elective lists, clinics and examinations. No-one will be failed from training due to COVID but we are trying to balance maintenance of standards and not ending with a "logjam" to jobs.

Finally our State Committee on behalf of the surgeons both public and private have written to the Director General and Minister to assure them that we want to be part of the solution to provide safe emergency and urgent surgical care to our community during the pandemic. We were unanimous that this care would be to all patients equally whether within private facilities or public. We would involve the appropriate specialists within their scope of practice, and without thought of profit but in a way that ensures the survival of the private and public sectors into recovery and into the future.

Take care and look out for each other.

Adjunct Professor Deborah Bailey
Chair Queensland State Committee

Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast and Cairns joined in on the International Women's Day celebration in March 2020.

View article (PDF 664KB)
Across the sunshine state, over 160 attendees gathered for food and drinks together, giving an opportunity for networking, further discussion, questions and celebrating. After such successful International Women's Day celebrations, RACS Queensland looks forward to hosting an equality in medicine event later in the year. Read more

A study examining gender imbalance among surgeons show widespread cultural change is needed to stamp out bullying, harassment and lack of support for women entering the profession.

The Saturday Paper featured Gold Coast surgeon Dr Rhea Liang who lead the Lancet study so data of why women who choose to leave surgical training could guide effective interventions.
View article

Are you a trainee who has recently completed your fellowship training program and were to resume appointments overseas, however due to COVID-19 may have remained in Australia? Queensland Health's Surgical Advisory Comittee would like to hear from you.

Additional support is required during the COVID-19 pandemic and Queensland Health have a list of specialists who have expressed an interest to be called upon to assist hospitals. If you would like to be involved and/or know of anyone who would be interested, please contact Michelle Nelson.

The State Committee election is now open and voting will close on 6 April 2020.

Queensland Fellows were sent an email with a link to the ballot. If the email has not been received, please contact us.
E: college.qld@surgeons.org

We have set up a COVID-19 information hub with useful resources and updates about the coronavirus outbreak. The information hub contains information about hospital accreditation, training and support as well as links to COVID-19 downloads, resources and journal articles.
Find out more

Fellows can now access the new FRACS branding. The logos and guidelines are available via the RACS portfolio, accessible with your RACS ID. If you have any questions, please contact RACS Communications.

RACS is prioritising the health and safety of its members and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. All RACS staff in Australia and New Zealand are being supported to work from home from COB Friday 27 March 2020 until further notice. We remain available to offer support and take enquiries from our RACS members.
E: college.qld@surgeons.org

Queensland Surgeon's Month

November 2020
View draft calendar

Queensland Charity Ball
Howard Smth Wharves, Brisbane City
New date: 6 March 2021
Read more

Due to the developing situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, Professional Development face-to-face courses, forums, and committee meetings are cancelled through to 30 June 2020.

Registrations for all remaining 2020 courses are currently suspended until further notice.

If you are currently registered in a 2020 course later in 2020, please wait for advice from the College regarding the status of your course. Any participants registered in a course that is cancelled will receive a full refund of their course fee.

Academy Educator Studio Session webinar series will be still be running to provide RACS Fellows an opportunity to obtain CPD points.

Due to the developing situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, Skills Training face-to-face courses, forums and committee meetings are cancelled through to 30 June 2020.

Registrations for all remaining 2020 courses are currently suspended until further notice.

If you are currently registered in a 2020 course later in 2020, please wait for advice from the College regarding the status of your course. Any participants registered in a course that is cancelled will receive a full refund of their course fee.

Keep up to date with RACS on COVID-19

Ass Prof Payal Mukherjee is completing a PhD in new technologies in ear surgery. As one of few females studying technology, she's pushing for greater female participation in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Assoc Prof Mukherjee is an ENT surgeon, Deputy Chair of the RACS NSW State Committee and an Associate Professor of Surgery at The University of Sydney. She was a finalist for the 2019 NSW Premier's Woman of the Year. In this episode Assoc Prof Mukherjee explains why she chose surgery as a vocation and how rewarding it's been for her.
Listen online

The impact on the economy will be huge, which has led the Federal Government to announce a range of initiatives for businesses who are on the front line of this unprecedented crisis. To help understand the effect the coronavirus is having on the global economy we hear from Simon Farmer, managing director of Walshs Financial Group. He's joined by Partner, Hugh Walsh, who details the Federal Government's cash flow assistance for businesses and other packages to assist medical practices. Listen online

Simon and Hugh will be recording a video in the coming days, which provides an overall update based on all the government announcements to date. Coming soon on the Walshs webpage.

The Federal Government has introduced a business support package to assist employers continue to employ their staff where the business has been affected by Coronavirus. The JobKeeper payment is designed to keep those currently employed in their jobs and legislation to approve it will hopefully be passed next week. Read more

Many surgeons have been concerned about their scope of practice after the suspension of all non-urgent elective surgery in categories 2 and 3 on 25 March 2020.
Information on the recent deadline extension for the suspension of semi-urgent category 2 and 3 elective surgeries at private hospitals and what you can and cannot do.
Read more

After careful review of the current COVID-19 and extensive consultation with Queensland Health, GIRFT and RACS; current guidance on travel and large group gatherings means running the event as planned is inadvisable. We would like to thank you for your understanding and we look forward to welcoming you to future events later this year (TBA). Preliminary Program

The Australasian Trauma Society and the World Coalition for Trauma Care invite you to attend the 5th World Trauma Congress. A gathering of international Trauma experts and societies to discuss contemporary Trauma-related topics in order to further the aim of the Congress of a "Global Collaboration in Trauma Care".

RACS Library staff are now working remotely to maintain the online collections and provide services as usual. Please use the online forms to request delivery of articles or database searching. An Instant Chat service is also available - look for the green circle with the conversation box on the Library webpages.

The readings below from the Library's e-collections may be of interest:

The Read by QXMD journal alert app now has a COVID-19 curated collection of recent articles. More information

E: college.library@surgeons.org
T: +61 3 9249 1271

The Morbidity Audit and Logbook Tool (MALT) database consists of a large amount of Australian and International medical institutions. If you wish to record cases undertaken in private practice or in private rooms, the MALT help desk team will work with you to ensure that these locations are available. Help us to help you!

E: MALT@surgeons.org
T: +61 8 8219 0939

RACS encourages all surgeons to recognise and discuss any challenges facing them and to ensure self care is part of managing professional life.
Check out our support program and resources

Fellows and Trainees of the College can access exclusive discounts on a range of quality lifestyle products and financial services through the RACS Member Advantage benefit program.

Prevocational doctors can subscribe to an ePortfolio and educational resources that have been designed to support the Framework and promote flexible online self-directed learning.
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