Professor Valerie Braithwaite is a professor in the School of Regulation and Global Governance at the Australian National University. Her research explores the importance of trust in public and private institutions. This podcast was recorded before the outbreak of the COVID-19 hit Australia, but Professor’s Braithwaite’s reflections and insights on trust are relevant and astute in this unprecedented context.

Susan Biggar talks to Professor Braithwaite about trust, what happens when it is lost and how organisations, especially regulators, can become more trustworthy. They discuss signs of the public having trust and confidence in regulators, and how regulators might work with communities and other organisations to foster greater trust. Professor Braithwaite has found that if the public sees the regulator as bringing benefits and delivering more fairness to the system, then they feel a moral obligation to accept that regulation and cooperate with the regulator. We hear how this can manifest in behaviours, or ‘postures’ and that trust is complex, but incredibly important to effective regulation.

The COVID-19 pandemic has this year brought exceptional challenges for health professionals, with many practitioners facing increasing daily pressure and for some, new anxiety. In this episode of Taking Care, Dr Jane Munro, Dr Kym Jenkins and Margie Stuchbery share personal and professional insights from their respective fields as a paediatric rheumatologist, a psychiatrist, and a clinical psychologist. Host Susan Biggar discusses with our guests the challenges of the current situation, the value of connection and some strategies for staying healthy and safe. We hear about the Pandemic Kindness movement, led by Dr Jane Munro, a valuable repository of resources, information and a connected community that emerged from the pandemic. Join us to reflect, learn and consider what practitioner wellbeing means in the pandemic era and beyond.

Telehealth is on the rise in Australia since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We discuss the opportunities, how to best provide safe care using technology and how telehealth may continue to increase beyond the ‘pandemic era’.

Join Tash Miles in conversations with physiotherapist Dr Viktoria Molloy, podiatrist Michael Nitschke and occupational therapist Leanne Hopkins for a range of perspectives across different health professions. We hear stories from their telehealth experiences, how these practitioners are adapting and also how they can incorporate pre-pandemic practice, techniques and tools into their healthcare delivery.

Ahpra and the National Boards have launched a pandemic sub-register on April 6th to fast track the return to the workforce of experienced and qualified health practitioners in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Taking Care welcomes Alison McMillan, the Commonwealth Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer; Dr Chris Zappala, Vice-President of the AMA and respiratory physician; and Brett Simmonds, Chair of the Pharmacy Board of Australia.

Join us for a discussion on the opportunities and implications of the sub-register. Susan Biggar discusses with the guests how vulnerable practitioners might be affected, what these returning practitioners might do as a 'surge workforce' and how the sub-register could look in further iterations.

Dr Gerald B. Hickson, MD is from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he works in the Department of Pediatrics. There, he has worked there since 1982 in multiple capacities. Since 1990, Dr Hickson’s research has focused on why families choose to file suit and how to identify and intervene with high-risk physicians and in 2003, he founded the Center for Patient and Professional Advocacy. Dr Hickson joins Susan Biggar in conversation about the patient safety movement and the important changes he has seen. They discuss how to best identify and intervene with high risk situations and the importance of open disclosure and feedback in achieving safer, more satisfactory outcomes. Dr Hickson talks about the ‘culture of safety’: how to promote it and how to address behaviours that undermine it. Listen to this important conversation that expands the scope of healthcare delivery beyond the practitioners to also include those receiving care, and their families.

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In this episode, we listen to inaugural co-Chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Strategy Group, Professor Gregory Phillips and incoming co-Chair Karl Briscoe talk to Tash Miles. They discuss the importance and relevance of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Cultural Safety Strategy 2020-2025 (the Strategy) in achieving cultural safety and Closing the Gap.

The Strategy’s vision is that ‘Patient safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples is the norm. We recognise that patient safety includes the inextricably linked elements of clinical and cultural safety, and that this link must be defined by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.’ This will guide the work of the National Scheme and marks an important development in health regulation in Australia.

In this episode we hear how the Strategy came to be, listen to stories of memorable moments in its development and what the future could hold in an environment of increased cultural safety in Australian healthcare. This important conversation also acknowledges the many people and organisations involved in developing and delivering the Strategy.

In early March 2020, amendments to the legislation on mandatory notifications came into effect. This presents a unique and important opportunity to talk about their impact on public safety and health practitioners. Susan Biggar and Tash Miles speak to Dr Andy Tagg, an emergency medicine physician, Dr Caroline Johnson, a GP and registrar support and progress coordinator, and Ms Kaye Frankcom, a clinical and counselling psychologist. Listen to them discuss what mandatory notifications mean for treating practitioners and their practitioner-patients. Most importantly, the guests emphasise the importance of all practitioners seeking help without fear of being reported, especially as the new amendments raise the threshold for when a mandatory notification is needed.

This episode of Taking Care is a conversation between Martin Fletcher, the CEO of Ahpra, and Tash Miles. They talk about what Ahpra and the National Boards can and cannot do under the National Scheme, as well as the importance of the many key players in a bigger health care system. Martin explains how the scheme helps to keep the public safe through its various roles and relationships. Martin highlights how the free public register of practitioners is there to help protect all Australians in health care, and how Ahpra is working to inform and engage with the public so that they access the register. We also hear Martin talk about the concerns that are raised about practitioners to Ahpra, how we manage those concerns and what the future of health regulation might look like to ensure it is effective, fair and trustworthy.

An interview with Kate Richards, award-winning author and medical researcher who trained as a doctor. As a student and trainee doctor, Kate experienced serious mental health issues, involving many hospital admissions and significant encounters with the health system while simultaneously training to provide that care to others. She talks about challenges for students and young trainee doctors, particularly those facing a health or mental health issue. From the patient perspective, she speaks of the vulnerabilities, power imbalance and serious obstacles that patients can face in their effort to access good, safe and humane health care. She also compares her profession as a writer with that of a doctor.

Dr Anne Tonkin, Chair of the Medical Board of Australia, reflects on Ahpra’s videos featuring first-person accounts of what it is like to be the subject of a notification, or a complaint, from the perspective of a registered health practitioner. In a discussion with Susan Biggar, she talks about what the Medical Board and Ahpra can learn from these accounts of their notification experiences and what could be done to improve it for all people involved in the process. Dr Tonkin also talks about changes that are already happening and what they mean for practitioners and the public.