Clinicians Speak Out

I was recently alerted by Dr Clare Skinner (who features in this article in the AFR) as to the existence of this website, Clinicians Speak Out. To be honest, I am not 100% certain what the purpose of the website is, as it is set up like a blog, but seems to act a little like a noticeboard and a discussion forum in one. Nevertheless, the premise behind the organisation running it is straightforward - public hospitals need to be run with a clear vision and purpose. Underlying issues need to be defined and addressed, and covering up one crisis after another does not solve these issues. Attention needs to be paid to long-term planning, not short term politics.

Kudos to those brave health professionals who are willing to speak out and put their names to their concerns about the public health system. Bravo to you, and may you have a positive influence on the administration of public health. I most certainly do not have enough courage to shelve my anonymity at this time.

While the predominant focus is on public hospitals in the Sydney area (no doubt all the controversy about RNSH has brought this to the forefront, as well as the basic fact that the current NSW Health system is one of the most rundown, bureaucratic, paperwork-driven, responsibility-shedding and accountability-avoiding administrations I have every had the sad privilege of working in), every other public hospital system in Australia deserves the same attention.

So congratulations, doctors, nurses, and other health professionals at Clinicians Speak Out, may you continue to fight the good fight. I am sure that when you have some content worth reading, medical web-surfers will flock to you... in the meantime, I'll just try to boost your pageload stats because I know how good it feels. (smile)