Abstract
At the meeting held in Melbourne on 26-27 October 2002 General Council welcomed Dr Thomas Fong and Dr Paul Vroegop, ANZAPT representatives, to their first meeting. Doctors Oleh Kay and Harry Derham attended their final meeting and were thanked with acclamation for the time and effort they had both given during their term as Councillors.
The following is an overview of the General Council meeting. Your Branch or Faculty Councillor can provide more information and the unconfirmed minutes of the meeting have been circulated to all Branches, Faculties, Sections and Committees and are also posted on the College website.
STRATEGIC ISSUES
General Council:
established a Policy Committee to develop strategic policies and initiatives within structured guidelines. One of its primary aims is to position the College as an externally focussed organization. General Councillors Louise Newman, Grant Sara, Nick Judson and Brett Emmerson were nominated to form this Committee
approved funding to establish a Policy Unit in the Secretariat
received an update on the Clinical Care Pathways discussion paper which is expected to be circulated for comment in early 2003
approved the 16 recommendations from the Boundary Transgressions and Sexual Misconduct Project. These recommendations are derived from the areas of education, peer review, support and supervision and community awareness
received an update on the Clinical Practice Guidelines. The College received Commonwealth funding in July to finish the project and editorial workshops are planned for early November with an expected completion date of late November. The Guidelines will be printed in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry and summary versions published in Australasian Psychiatry
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
ratified the RANZCP Training and Assessment Regulations and the Curriculum for Basic Training for implementation at the beginning of the 2004 training year
approved the creation of a temporary Chair-elect (co-opted) for the Committee for Examinations position in May 2003
received an update on the AMC Accreditation Process
recorded its appreciation of the outstanding contribution to the College made by Dr John Lloyd over the past twenty years
COLLEGE AFFAIRS
discussed the Electoral Processes used by other Colleges and recommended that cost analyses be prepared for the various methods and presented to GC 2003/1
recommended that C Patterson investigate ways in which Trainees can be given voting rights at College meetings
approved the draft Terms of Reference for the Special Interest Group in Rural Psychiatry and the Rural Psychiatry Research Award
FINANCIAL AFFAIRS
noted that the College was in a very sound financial position
approved the 2003 College Budget and empowered the Finance Committee to adjust budget estimates as necessary for prudent financial management
PROFESSIONAL AFFAIRS
approved the Position Statement on Indigenous Mental Health Workers
received an update on the new Complaints process which has been received favourably by medical boards, complaint commissions and consumers
received an update on the Strategic Planning Group for Private Psychiatric Services. The College is to remain the group that provides the Chair
approved the draft College Practice Guideline on Certification of Opinion according to non-clinical criteria as a Practice Guideline of the College
ratified the revised By-Laws for the Board of Practice Standards, the Quality Improvement Committee and the Committee for Continuing Medical Education
directed that the Ethical Guidelines in the Relationship between Psychiatrists and the Pharmaceutical Industry be referred back to the Ethics Committee for further revision
discussed the introduction of the new MBS item numbers for telepsychiatry and ratified the updated College Position Statement #44 on Telepsychiatry.
Look out for the ‘Purple Book,’ arriving June: – The Revised Driver Medical Standards
The newly revised medical standards for commercial and private vehicle drivers, Accessing Fitness to Drive (AFTD 2003), will be available in May/June 2003. The book replaces the previous publications, ‘Medical Examinations For Commercial Vehicle Drivers’ and ‘Assessing Fitness to Private Vehicles,’ combining the standards into one user-friendly handbook.
AFTD will provide clear medical standards for licensing of drivers, differentiating between the more stringent requirements for commercial vehicle drivers and those for drivers of private vehicles. It will outline general management guidelines to assist you in advising your patients. New material covered in the book will include:
An explanation of ‘conditional’ licenses
Management of temporary illnesses and undifferentiated illness and
Important legal and ethical considerations
The book has been developed by the National Road Transport Commission and will be distributed by Austroads. Development has been a result of extensive consultation with various medical organizations, licensing authorities, the trucking industry, unions and lay groups.
The chapter on Psychiatric disorders has been reviewed with input from the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP), in particular Dr Don Grant and Dr Nick Strauss. Related chapters address drugs and alcohol as well as older patients.
The College has endorsed the book and will assist with direct distribution to members in June 2003.