Archived News for Health Sector Professionals
The National Health and Medical Research Council will conduct a scientific forum into investigating the possible effects of wind turbines on health and will hear the latest international scientific evidence and engage with stakeholders over the range of issues for which there is public concern.
In 2009 NHMRC conducted a rapid review of current scientific literature to determine whether there was a link between wind turbines and adverse health effects. The review considered the potential health impacts of infrasound, noise, electromagnetic interference, shadow flicker and blade glint produced by wind turbines and concluded that, at the time of writing, there was no published scientific evidence to positively link wind turbines with adverse health effects.
Residents living close to wind farms have raised concerns about potential adverse health impacts from wind turbines including nausea, headaches, anxiety and sleep and learning difficulties.
Senate Committee slams health practitioner regulation body
The Senate Finance and Public Administration Committee has slammed the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) for its failure to satisfactorily set up and operate the national registration system for Australia’s 528,000 health practitioners, causing massive impacts across the health services sector.
Cancer Nursing Research Unit launched in Sydney
A Cancer Nursing Research Unit has been launched as a collaboration between Sydney Nursing School at the University of Sydney, the Cancer Institute of New South Wales and the Sydney Cancer Centre, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.
New laboratory to focus on back pain and osteoarthritis
A new Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Research Laboratory has been launched at the University of Sydney which will integrate basic and clinical research to develop pioneering interventions to prevent, minimise or manage injury, chronic disease and disability.
University of New England to lead rural mental health research project
The University of New England will lead a $7 million research project on rural mental health, with funding of $4.8 million contributed by the Federal Government through the Collaborative Research Network (CRN) program.
The Collaborative Research Network for Mental Health and Wellbeing in Rural Regions will work with five partners - Universities of NSW, Sydney, Newcastle, and La Trobe, and Hunter New England Area Health Service - to expand rural health strengths, and feed into the education of health professionals and better rural mental health services.
CRN activities will build links with rural communities and health providers in NSW and Victoria, with a focus on investigating and improving mental health and wellbeing.
Studies show that people living in rural regions and remote areas tend to be in poorer health than those in urban areas. There is excessive mortality in rural areas related to mental health disorders, and differences in morbidity rates are linked to access to services and quality of life for those suffering from mental health disorders.
NHMRC project to look at new diabetes services
A new collaborative National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) research project led by Clinical Professor Lin Perry of the University of Technology Sydney has been funded to develop and test a new model of diabetes services.
Alfred opens burns unit
Melbourne’s Alfred Hospital has opened the newly refurbished Helen Macpherson Smith Burns Unit after spending $2.6 million on the upgrade.
$51 million for Queensland health
The federal government has announced a $51 million injection for infrastructure, capital projects and projects to improve clinical education in Queensland’s health sector.
$1.2 million added to WA suicide prevention
The Western Australian Government has announced an additional $1.2 million injection for youth mental health, with the key aim of suicide prevention.
Funding for aged care places for NSW
The Federal Government has announced $305,000 in recurrent funding for aged places in Gulgon, central NSW, that will aim to ‘meet the needs of the local ageing population by providing high level residential care’.
Mobile eye health centre for regional and indigenous Australians
Western New South Wales has been selected as the testing ground for a new mobile eye health clinic designed to care for rural and indigenous Australians.
50% more funding for medical schooling needed
Tertiary medical training centres are becoming increasingly dependent on foreign students to fund the teaching of local students, according to the University of Melbourne's Dean of Medicine, Professor James Angus.
$8.6 million for palliative care
Federal Minister for Health and Ageing Mark Butler has announced an $8.6 million injection for palliative care support for patients and their families and carers.
Medical research grants for Queensland
The Queensland State Government has announced funding totalling a $1.67 million initiative for emergency medical research projects.
SA bid wins funding for new Cancer Genome Facility
A new $5.1 million South Australian Cancer Genome Facility is to be established at SA Pathology with a $3.5 million grant from the Australian Cancer Research Foundation (ACRF), and a further grant of $1.05 million from the South Australian Government.
$4.58 for Mackay rehabilitation centre
The Queensland Government has announced $4.58 million injection for rehabilitation services in the Mackay Base Hospital for patients recovering from major surgery and illness.
$75 million for WA young doctors
The Western Australian Government has announced a $75 million medical training program to ensure its hospitals are sufficiently staffed.
$10 million for Wimmera Base Hospital
The Federal Government has announced funding of up to $10 million for Wimmera Base Hospital which will contribute towards a new 20 bed sub-acute unit in Horsham.
PM announces training facility in Tamworth
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced the funding of a new medical training facility in Tamworth, New England.
$440 million for Victorian health
The Victorian Health Minister David Davis has outlined the investment of new funding of $440 million for Victoria’s public hospitals announced as a result of Council of Australian Governments (COAG) negotiations in February this year, but has claimed that the Commonwealth has failed to give Victoria its fair share of health funding.