Position paper: Doctor and medical student wellbeing

Avant media

Thursday, 27 April 2023

Healthcare professionals who are physically and mentally well are fundamental to a world-leading healthcare system. When healthcare professionals are well, they respond better to the issues they are facing, treat patients better and have less medico-legal risk.

As a doctors’ organisation, Avant has firsthand experience of the health and well-being issues that healthcare professionals face.

Avant believes that to maintain their health and well-being, doctors need to have safe workplaces and access to appropriate support and services.

Avant’s position

Avant believes in:

playing a key role in raising awareness of health and well-being issues facing medical practitioners and students
supporting the maintenance of good physical, mental and workplace health and well-being
promoting appropriate responses to physical and psychosocial hazards in the workplace
assisting medical practitioners and students to access relevant health services
advocating strongly for properly funded, nationally consistent Doctors’ Health Advisory Services
collaborating with and supporting those who have their own well-being programmes
taking a proactive approach to well-being, to prevent stress from becoming distress and impairment
focussing on prevention but having systems in place to help members who need assistance
maximising the health and well-being of medical practitioners and students
advocating for medical practitioners with medical conditions to only have registration conditions imposed if they pose a risk to the public.

Avant’s support

Avant supports the well-being of healthcare professionals by:

providing access to the Well-Being Index in partnership with Beamtree
providing assistance through the Avant Medico-legal Advisory Service and the Avant personal support program
advocating on behalf of health professionals in submissions to government on issues which impact healthcare professionals
meeting with Ahpra and other regulatory bodies to ensure that regulators are focussed on the impact which claims and complaints have on the well-being of healthcare professionals.