Dear Members,
Firstly, I extend my best wishes for 2022, and hope that you have managed some downtime over the last couple of weeks. I know that many of you continued to work over the holiday season and I acknowledge and thank you all for your commitment.
As we enter this challenging phase of managing COVID-19 in the community in addition to the ongoing work in testing and vaccination, I want to assure you that the College is being very proactive in representing the interests of our members and communities at both the federal and state/territory levels. I continue to participate in weekly meetings with the Deputy Chief Medical Officer and senior departmental staff, and State College Council representatives and College staff are also active in their respective jurisdictions and policy areas.
At the most recent meeting, I raised a number of issues including the general fragility of the rural and remote health workforce and the pressure on individuals and practices; access to PPE and fit-testing; priority access to Rapid Antigen Testing, and the general lack of leadership, clear communication and coordination at all levels of government. I can assure you that we will continue to pursue these and other issues.
I am in regular contact with College Council members to ensure that I remain informed of what’s happening ‘on the ground’ and we welcome feedback from members, which can be emailed to policy@acrrm.org.au in the first instance.
Please be sure to look after your own mental and physical health as much as possible and thank you again for your commitment and service to rural and remote communities.