President's Message

A/Prof Richard Walsh

It would be remiss of me not to start by acknowledging the challenging climate we are all facing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you in advance for your contribution to treating and protecting our community in the face of this virus.

In these unprecedented times, we are all forced to adapt and change daily, sometimes sooner. Like everyone else, Council has adapted to ‘social distancing’ and ‘flattening the curve’. We have worked to be nimble, and have almost entirely moved to online access for hearings, meetings and events.

As we approach the convergence of the flu season with the COVID-19 pandemic, we review the most common mistakes doctors make when vaccinating patients. The Medical Council has received an increasing number of complaints in this area, ranging from incorrect administration and dosing to issues of storage and poor hygiene.

In order to break down any misconceptions about Council and its work, I encourage you to take a moment to read about a common Council process, Performance Assessments. This section contains a Q&A designed to provide transparency for practitioners about what may happen should they come to the attention of Council. Despite media coverage of high profile cases, most practitioners working with Council do not end up at the NSW Civil & Administrative Tribunal (NCAT)!

Finally, this edition is packed full of resources to help you make sense of the changing landscape: mandatory notification changes, tools to help support those impacted by fires and COVID19, and how to assist patients who may be considering cosmetic injectables. There is also a wrap up of complaint trends from 2019 including links to invaluable information to help answer your questions and concerns.

Kind regards,

Associate Professor Richard Walsh, President Medical Council of NSW