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Welcome to the May 2012 homepage edition of i2P-Information to Pharmacists. Rollo Manning has been having some time out having staples removed from the site of his open heart surgery.He is now at home recuperating in Darwin, having arrived home last Friday, beating a cold and hasty retreat from Canberra.We all wish him a speedy recovery and hopefully, he will be fit enough to contribute by next month.
This month, Pharmedia discusses the toll that is taken when someone complains about you to an authority without good cause. Well, the good news is that you can now take action to protect yourself if such a complaint is made, and that may even include action for defamation. Read about a recent case involving two doctors, with Mark Coleman drawing on personal experience to illustrate.

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Australians delaying doctor visits due to global financial crisis

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	Staff Writer articles by this author...
Editing and Researching news and stories about global and local Pharmacy Issues

Research Australia is the peak not for profit body for health and medical research.
According to its latest poll, many people are skipping health visits to various practitioners.
One would suspect that this may also be the case for pharmacy as well, but pharmacy visits did not seem to make this particular poll.
Nonetheless the statistics are interesting and should be analysed against your own individual results per pharmacy practice.

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More than a quarter of Australians have avoided or delayed visiting the doctor in the last six months, as a result of the global financial crisis, according to Research Australia’s latest public opinion poll.

Responding to increasing financial pressures of the past six months:

• 28% have ‘Avoided or delayed visits to a GP, dentist or specialist doctor’

• 20% have ‘Put off buying new or replacement prescription glasses’

• 13% have “Reduced the use of allied health services such as the chiropractor or physiotherapist’

• 11% have ‘Reduced or cancelled private healthcare membership.’

People aged 35 – 49 and those residing in South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory have been most affected. The poll shows 31% of families have avoided or delayed visits to their GP, dentist or specialist doctor in an attempt to save money due to increased financial pressure.

This supports the polls finding that 51% of people have been negatively affected by the global financial crisis, much of it being stress related.

Research Australia CEO Rebecca James noted that delaying visits to the doctor or specialist at a time of personal hardship is concerning, particularly for families dealing with stress.

“It is important to understand the link between the economy and health and the community response to financial pressure. The public need to know health care is vitally important and not something to be delayed,” she said.

The President of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Dr Chris Mitchell recommends that everyone has a GP.

“Obviously the economic situation had a broad impact across the country for both doctors and patients. One of the key roles of general practitioners is to prevent disease.

“It is a good idea to find time to see your GP to talk about disease prevention such as smoking, nutrition, alcohol and physical activity. If the cost of a consultation is of concern, it’s worth discussing this with your GP as maintaining good health is very important,” Dr Mitchell said.

Despite increased pressure on the household budget and concerns about employment the poll indicates there is still strong support for medical research.

Research Australia’s 2009 Public Opinion Poll was conducted by Crosby|Textor using qualitative and quantitative methodologies during May, June and July 2009. The quantitative study investigated the views of 806 Australians aged 18 and over, giving a margin of error of 3.5 percent.

About Research Australia

Research Australia is the peak not for profit body for health and medical research. It is a national alliance of more than 180 member and supporting organisations working together to promote health and medical research in Australia.

For more information on Research Australia visit www.researchaustralia.org

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