Jade joins the Association with a strong reputation as a member-focused leader and brings extensive experience in advocacy, stakeholder engagement and organisational leadership. At a time when the medical profession continues to face significant challenges, I am looking forward to working closely with her to ensure the voice of doctors remains strong and influential in Western Australia. 

Jade will commence on 29 September, and I know members will join me in welcoming her to the Association. 

I would also like to acknowledge and thank Katie Thomas, who has continued to do an outstanding job as Interim CEO. Katie has provided steady leadership during this transition period and has helped ensure the organisation continues to deliver for members while maintaining momentum across a range of important advocacy priorities. 

One issue that continues to attract attention is pharmacy prescribing. 

The AMA (WA) supports better access to timely healthcare. Every patient deserves prompt access to the care they need. However, access must be safe, clinically appropriate and properly governed. 

Recent commentary has suggested that pharmacy-led prescribing could play a role in addressing wider health system pressures, including ambulance ramping. We do not agree. 

The Federal AMA’s Ambulance Ramping Report Card 2026 clearly identified ramping as a whole-of-system problem driven by record demand, workforce shortages, access block, insufficient hospital capacity, and gaps in primary care, prevention and aged care. It is not a problem that can be solved by substituting specialist GP-led care with autonomous pharmacy prescribing. 

Pharmacists are highly skilled medication experts and play an important role within the healthcare team. However, diagnosing and managing medical conditions requires extensive medical training, clinical assessment, continuity of care and professional accountability. Those responsibilities belong with doctors. 

The AMA (WA)’s concerns regarding pharmacy prescribing and the WA Enhanced Access Community Pharmacy Pilot remain unchanged. We continue to have concerns around missed or incorrect diagnoses, fragmented continuity of care, weakened separation between prescribing and dispensing, and overall clinical governance. 

Governments should be focusing on strengthening medically led, team-based primary care. Greater investment in general practice, prevention, early intervention, aged care and workforce sustainability will do far more to address health system pressures than short-term workforce substitution measures. 

Patient safety must always remain the paramount consideration. 

The latest reporting on the new Women’s and Babies Hospital Project and the broader Osborne Park Hospital redevelopment has again highlighted issues that the AMA (WA) has consistently raised over many years. 

We welcome investment in health infrastructure. Western Australia needs new facilities and upgraded facilities. But such investments need to be done right. 

Our long-held concern remains that the new Women’s and Babies Hospital will not be co-located with Perth Children’s Hospital in Nedlands. In addition, the Osborne Park redevelopment will not include an emergency department or co-located adult medical and surgical services for mothers. 

For high-risk mothers and babies, proximity matters. 

When complications arise, patients should have the fastest possible access to paediatric, neonatal, maternity, medical and surgical expertise. The community deserves absolute clarity on how critically ill mothers and newborns will be managed safely across multiple sites, and how transfers between facilities will work when time is critical. 

As AMA (WA) Obstetrics and Gynaecology Representative Associate Professor Paul McGurgan noted recently in Medicus, construction activity continues and the clock continues to tick. As these projects progress, it becomes increasingly important that both clinicians and the public understand how the system will operate in practice. 

Infrastructure is only part of the challenge. The Government must also ensure there are sufficient doctors, nurses, midwives, allied health professionals and support staff to safely operate these facilities. The community needs confidence that these projects will function as one coordinated system, not simply as separate buildings. 

The recent increase in whooping cough cases in the Great Southern is a timely reminder that vaccination remains one of the most effective public health measures available. 

Whooping cough is vaccine-preventable, yet it can be extremely serious, particularly for babies who are too young to be fully immunised. 

The message for families is straightforward: check your vaccination status, ensure children are up to date with recommended vaccinations, and speak with your GP if you are unsure. 

Vaccination protects individuals, but it also protects vulnerable members of the community who rely on high levels of coverage around them. We have seen repeatedly what happens when vaccination rates decline. Diseases we can prevent begin to return, creating unnecessary illness and additional pressure on healthcare services. 

This winter, that matters more than ever. 

The latest ambulance ramping figures show our hospitals continue to operate under significant strain. Preventing avoidable illness is one of the simplest ways to help reduce demand on emergency departments and hospitals already struggling with capacity pressures. 

This is not about alarm. It is about prevention. Stay informed, seek advice from trusted medical sources, and make sure your family’s vaccinations are up to date. 

Finally, the reported reduction in operating hours at the St John of God Murdoch Hospital Emergency Department provides another reminder of the challenges facing emergency medicine across Western Australia. 

The proposed change is not an isolated issue. It is a symptom of broader workforce pressures affecting emergency departments throughout the State. 

The immediate impact is likely to be increased pressure on Fiona Stanley Hospital, adding further demand to an already busy public emergency department and potentially contributing to longer waits for patients. 

Our members working in emergency medicine are already dealing with unprecedented workloads, increasing patient complexity and growing expectations to work additional hours. Many are experiencing burnout, while some are reducing hours or leaving the specialty altogether. At the same time, doctors in training are increasingly choosing specialties offering greater certainty around workload and work-life balance. 

The reality is that neither the public nor private system can succeed in isolation. A strong private hospital sector is an essential part of a functioning health system, helping ease pressure on public hospitals through emergency care, elective surgery and step-down services. 

As we move deeper into winter, governments and healthcare providers must work together to ensure both systems remain viable. Without meaningful action to recruit, retain and support the health workforce, pressures across emergency departments will only continue to grow. 

And ultimately, regardless of which issue we are discussing, the solution always comes back to the same principle: investing in people. Buildings, programs and policies all matter, but it is a skilled, supported and sustainable workforce that keeps our health system functioning for the patients who rely upon it every day.