Dear <<First Name>>

Message from the Queensland Chair

I took over as the Chair of the Queensland State Committee at the RACS Annual Scientific Meeting in May from Brain McGowan who has tirelessly worked on the state committee to improve communication with Government and the surgeons throughout Queensland.

Queensland remains well represented at Council and in other College work. I saw several of you at the recent Fellowship Examinations. I reflected how in my time I was one of two women passing any Fellowship Examination and now the room is filled with successful candidates from all backgrounds being congratulated by equally diverse examiners. Our college leads in acknowledging deficits of culture and professionalism result in poor outcomes for our patients, our staff and our colleagues. We are still learning how to improve our culture and deal with issues or complaints. We have accepted that challenge. 

The surgeon’s journey from student to wise departmental senior and beyond, is the theme of our biennial Queensland State Conference – Seven “st”ages of a surgeon. We will look at how students perceive getting into surgical training; and explore flexible training and work models. We are combining with the Qld Surgical Health Forum on the Friday and the Division of Surgical Directors, after successfully doing so in Cairns two years ago. We are again advocating for Qld Health support to establish surgical outcome databases in our facilities. At the moment, we have pilot studies of NSQIP proceeding. We will also have a forum on who is responsible for lapses of professionalism – government, jurisdictions or College?

I have taken this role with the aim of improving our communication with each other throughout our state. If you have ideas to do so, please let me know. We are repeating the initiative to have a meeting of representatives of State Committee, Qld Health and a local scientific meeting in Townsville, after the success in Cairns last year. We hope to repeat this throughout the state in the next two years.

Look forward to seeing you in July on the Gold Coast or at any of the forthcoming events:
-    Combined Queensland State Conference & Surgical Directors Leadership Forum, 12-14 July 2019
-    Bongiorno Younger Fellows Evening, 20 June 2019
-    WISE (Women in Surgical Erudition) 16 August 2019, Gold Coast
-    Townsville regional visit in October
-    Preparation for Private Practice, 9-10 November 2019

Regards
Prof Deborah Bailey

Queensland Conference

Have you registered?

The biennial RACS Queensland State Conference is just around the corner! This year's conference combined with the Surgical Directors Leadership Forum will focus around the challenges facing surgeons at different st(ages) of their career. Stay up-to-date with the surgical community and improve cohesiveness with co-workers.

Don't miss out on riveting presentations from senior and well-respected Fellows including:

• Prof Mark Smithers
• Prof David Fletcher
• Prof Deborah Bailey
• Prof Owen Ung
• David Theile Lecturer Dr Barry O'Loughlin
• former College president Dr Phill Truskett
• our honoured guest Dr Neil Wetzig

Pre-meeting events on Friday 12 July include the:

• Queensland Health Surgical Services Forum
• Supervisors and Trainers for Surgical Education & Training (SAT SET) course
• Keeping Trainees on Track (KTOT) course
• Neville Davis & RACS Papers Prize presentations

Social opportunities include the Friday evening welcome reception and Saturday dinner, where the RACS Papers, Neville Davis, Clinical Committee and Gordon Gordon-Taylor prize winners will be announced.

Fellows who participate the full conference can claim up to 12 CPD points.

Preparation for Private Practice

Registration Open

Do you have the support network to make your practice a success?
Are you properly equipped to start a private practice?

The Younger Fellows Group of the Queensland State Committee is proud to offer the Preparation for Practice workshop to be held over the weekend of 9 & 10 November 2019 at the Avant Mutual Group office, Brisbane.

There are many complex matters involved in setting up private practice. The interactive two day workshop is here to provide the practical tools need to start your journey in the private sector. The focus is on practicality and experiences provided by fellow surgeons and consultant speakers.

The course will cover:
- addressing private administration and billing
- financial and practice business structures
- legal and medico-legal aspects
- identifying pressures and strategies to maintain a healthy and balanced life
- creating relationships between fellows and referring doctors, staff, private hospitals and private insurance companies

For further information contact the RACS Queensland Office.

Professional Development 

 

Upcoming Events in Queensland

2019 Activities in Queensland

PAH Health Symposium
Russell Strong Auditorium, Princess Alexandra Hospital
Connecting healthcare, better outcomes
30 July - 2 August

Anatomy of Surgical Exposure
James Cook University, Smithfield Campus, Cairns
6-8 September
Develop your Operative Surgery skills in Tropical North Queensland.
The course is accredited by RACS.

Renal Transplant 50-year Anniversary Ball
The Marquee, Victoria Park Golf Club
14 September

Help secure the future of health in Timor-Leste

Next year is our deadline to hand over our lifesaving Timor-Leste program. We urgently need your help to get our local teams equipped, trained and ready to run on their own. Please act now, and help leave the Timorese community a legacy of greater health, independence and opportunity.

Pledge-a-Procedure by making a tax-deductible donation before 30 June.

Mistake compounded by cover-up attempt

Avant Article

A recently reported case in which a health professional was reprimanded serves as a timely reminder for members of the importance of being open and honest when an adverse event occurs.

A highly experienced emergency department nurse with an unblemished record made an error that she then sought to cover up. The Nursing and Midwifery Board brought disciplinary proceedings against her alleging seven grounds of professional misconduct, only two of which related to her initial mistake.

Regrettably, five were due to the emergency nurse's actions following the mistake, which saw her falsify records, give misleading evidence to AHPRA and conspire with co-workers to conceal the mistake.

This lead the state's disciplinary tribunal to take a dim view of her actions: "... the nature and extent of the conduct and the respondent's attempts to avoid detection amount to serious departure from the standard expected of a nurse of her experience."

The case highlights how open disclosure and honesty could have averted their series of events from unfolding.

Read more

Avant is Australia's leading medical defence organisation, representing over 75,000 healthcare practitioners and students across every state and territory. Avant have continued to grow and support their members with a range of tailored products and services that are designed to not only to safeguard your career and reputation, but also protect you as an individual, your family and your practice. These products include practice medical indemnity, health, life and income, and travel insurances.

 
www.avant.org.au
 

Post-Election State of Play

What a Re-Elected Coalition Government Means For You

With the federal election now well behind us, Simon Farmer from Walshs takes time to reflect on what a re-elected coalition government will mean for Queensland surgeons.

The most obvious take out is that we will avoid a raft of tax changes that were overwhelmingly negative for many Australians but certainly surgeons in particular. This included the top marginal tax rate increasing by 2% trusts having a uniform tax of 30% levied on income, significant negative gearing changes, capital gains tax increases, doubling of the superannuation contributions tax for those earning above $200k and below $250k, a reduction of the non-concessional contributions limit from $100k p.a. to $75k and of course the re-instatement of the wretched 10% rule of concessional contributions for those working in both private practice and Qld health.
Read more about this here 

Simon Farmer is Walshs Managing Director - Financial Planning, who specialises in managing the wealth of senior medical professionals.  He is a regular speaker for the Royal Australian College of Surgeons and a highly esteemed finance expert.

Walshs is engaged by over 1600 medical professionals to assist with their tax, accounting and financial planning needs, including:

• setting up private practice
• tax compliance and advice
• business structuring and tax strategies
• personal insurances
• property and premium lending arrangements
• superannuation advice and management, among many other areas.

Walshs is a proud sponsor of the RACS Queensland.

www.walshs.com.au
(07) 3221 5677

RACS Support Program

Converge International

Fellows, Trainees and IMGs are reminded that free confidential counselling is available through Converge International. Experienced counsellors are available to speak with you about any work related or personal matter. The service also extends to immediate family or other members of your household.

The EAP Connect app is a useful resource and can be downloaded the our website.

Member Benefits Program

Private Fleet

Did you know you can save time and money by purchasing a car through your benefits program? Private Fleet offer personalised service, delivery to your door and roadside assistance*.

*Terms and Conditions apply.

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