Top medical universities call for revolutionary change

Medical leaders at Australia’s major universities have called for a change that would revolutionise medical education, research and patient care in the nation’s top institutions.

In an editorial published tomorrow in the Medical Journal of Australia, The University of Queensland’s Health Sciences Executive Dean, Professor Nicholas Fisk, joins deans from seven other Go8 institutions in a call for the establishment of Academic Health Science Centres (AHSCs).

AHSCs are created by a ‘joining up’ of a leading university, a major tertiary hospital and other key partners, such as research institutes.

More than 30 have been established internationally in Canada, Holland, the United Kingdom, United States and Singapore, with growing evidence that patient care and cost efficiencies are improved, Prof Fisk said.

The paper “Academic Health Science Centres in Australia: let’s get competitive”, claims strong advocacy for AHSCs in Australia has been ignored at the political level.

“AHSCs drive a care continuum from innovation to the bedside to community, ensuring the latest advances and highest standards reach patients,” the article says, but the concept has not figured in recent major health strategies.

The paper lists a range of barriers to AHSCs, including cultural cringe, political will, institutional clashes between federally funded universities and state-funded hospitals and the myriad of government departments at two levels.

However, the authors maintain these should not put the idea into the too hard basket and the introduction of Local Hospital Networks this year offered ‘a pivotal opportunity’ to introduce AHSCs. They call for a competitive process to create a first wave of 4-6 AHSCs nationally.

The paper is co-authored by Professor Steven Wesselingh (Monash), Professor Justin Beilby (Adelaide), Nicholas Glasgow (Australian National Universtiy), Ian Puddey (Western Australia), Bruce Robinson (Sydney), Jim Angus (Melbourne), Peter Smith (New South Wales).

MJA online - http://www.mja.com.au/
http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/194_02_170111/contents_170111.html

Media inquiries: Marlene McKendry 0401 996847