News
To the Western Australian community – Thank you!
Tuesday April 7, 2020
The most recent lower numbers of people in our community who have tested positive to COVID-19 is gratifying to see.
Premier Mark McGowan and his Government are to be unreservedly congratulated for implementing strong social and border controls and making WA one of the best places in the world to be during this pandemic.
These measures have people working from home, and school and university students learning from home. While it has been very difficult, it’s been undertaken in a very short space of time.
We have enormous gratitude for the Government and while we have had our bumps along the way, and a few bruises were inevitable, we really appreciate you locking things down as much as you have. This is particularly important for our vulnerable communities in the regions.
Observing these measures will help to manage this pandemic in a way that reduces the amount of mayhem, destruction, infection of health care workers and unnecessary death of patients. We certainly have a real sense that the community is starting to understand this now.
Congratulations also to Attorney General John Quigley, the Government and all Members of Parliament on passing the Guardianship and Administration Amendment (Medical Research) Bill 2020. Now trials of new therapies for COVID-19 patients and other patients incidentally in intensive care units and emergency departments in WA will be allowed to take place. It brings us into line with the rest of the country and it means you, your relatives, your friends will be able to try the same new therapies for this horrible condition as everywhere else in the world.
To Joondalup Health Campus – thank you for taking on a big load of those patients from the cruise ships. I know that the team there is working really well together, it is stressful, in difficult conditions and they’re doing a fantastic job.
In terms of preparation and training, public hospitals are doing very well – they are quite advanced with their teams. Although there are still shortages around personal protection equipment (PPE), we have some green shoots and confidence that we will be able to improve on that by the time the big caseloads hit.
Thank you to Andrew Forrest and the Minderoo Foundation for securing additional PPE for WA. The first load of PPE that arrived in Perth is being delivered to public hospital facilities by the State Government. The Australian Medical Association (WA) is also involved with helping to get out supplies to the non-hospital sector so that we can provide some reassurance to aged care, General Practice and other specialists who don’t work in hospitals.
We will work together to ensure there is enough PPE to protect our health care workers through this pandemic and ensure that vulnerable patients also continue to be provided with world-class care .
To our doctors and health care workers – thank you for always putting the health of our community at the forefront of the work you do.
To the AMA (WA) Council and our staff – I greatly value and appreciate your advice, support and hard work.
And finally, thank you everyone for your patience with this shutdown. While we know this will be for a period of time, it will also be a time none of us will ever forget – but let’s make that for the right reasons.
Yours sincerely
Dr Andrew Miller
President
AMA (WA)
