Committees

The SA MET Accreditation Committee, through the SA MET Advisory Council, makes recommendations on the accreditation status of:

• Intern positions to the South Australian Board of the Medical Board of Australia, and of
• Other postgraduate trainee positions to the Department of Health and Wellbeing and the Minister for Health and Wellbeing

The Accreditation Committee undertakes:

• Development of processes, guidelines and standards for postgraduate medical training accreditation that are consistent with the national accreditation guidelines and frameworks.
• Assessment of applications for accreditation of positions against current standards by document review and site visits as appropriate.

To view the Terms of Reference, please click here.

To view the 2021 Accreditation Committee Meeting and Papers Due Dates, please click here.

The Education Committee provides advice to the Health Advisory Council on appropriate education and training activities for junior doctors in South Australia.

The committee is chaired by Professor Ian Symonds.

To view the Terms of Reference, please click here.

The Professional Medical Colleges Committee is established as a committee of the Advisory Council to provide advice from the perspective of the Professional Medical Colleges.

The committee is chaired by Dr Jackie Davidson, Australasian College for Emergency Medicine.

To view the Terms of Reference, please here.

The Doctors in Training (DiT) Committee reports to the Advisory Council and has functions including:

• receiving feedback from trainee medical officers about relevant safety and quality matters and to advocate to health services about trainee medical officer training, health and welfare issues,
• develop position statements and policies that support the education, training, health and welfare of student and trainee medical officers and
• provide comment on documents relating to trainee medical officer education, training and welfare.

The Terms of Reference for the DiT Committee is available here.

Membership

The following represent the key areas of Doctors in Training (DiT) Committee activity over the past two years .

Unaccredited registrar positions
The SA MET DiTC are advocating on behalf of unaccredited registrars, following concerns raised of exploitation and unsafe practices. There are currently hundreds of unaccredited registrars working within SA Health. With no regulatory body this number is unable to be accurately quantified. These positions are created by Hospital departments based on workforce need. There is no accreditation to ensure adequate support, supervision and education is provided as part of this role. These junior doctors are also not a part of a college, thus have no formal education or training requirements provided by an external body.

There are a number of concerns which have been raised by junior doctors filling these positions within SA Health.

• Safety
  1. Unaccredited trainees work significantly more night shifts compared to those on a training program, at a time where there is less supervision and support in the hospital. They often work considerably more hours, with risk of burnout and fatigue, impacting the ability to provide safe patient care.
• Education and training
  1. There is no formal education provided, such as that scheduled for interns, or provided by Colleges for their trainees.
  2. Training provided is often subject to the needs of the unit rather than the needs of trainees.
  3. Not having the same education and training as those within a program while undertaking similar scope of practice poses a risk of safety to junior doctors and patients.
• Bullying
  1. Junior doctors undertaking these positions are working towards applying (or reapplying) to their chosen specialty. Often these junior doctors are most vulnerable to bullying as they feel they are unable to speak up without jeopardizing their chances of successfully gaining an accredited position.
  2. With no one accountable and no protection, unaccredited registrars are one of the most vulnerable junior doctor groups in the workforce.

The DiTC are working with SA MET to help identify unaccredited registrar numbers and provide accreditation and oversight of these positions.

Patient Restraint
The SA MET DiTC has identified issues regarding the management of agitated patients and the deficiency in relevant legislation for restraint of patients who do not fit the Mental Health Act. Currently, there are still unsafe practices occurring, with trainees and clinicians resorting to legally inappropriate Inpatient Treatment Orders under the Mental Health Act when chemical or physical restraint is necessary, due to a lack of alternative encompassing legislation. This resulted in a Restrictive Practices Amendment Bill to the Consent to Medical Treatment and Palliative Care Act, for which the DiTC provided a response to. Due to the change in government, this has been delayed and currently a new Amendment Bill is being drafted.

As trainees perform a large proportion of service delivery within the public health system, especially afterhours when agitated incompetent patients must be managed, this continues to be a significant source of confusion and distress for doctors in training. The DiTC continues to advocate and communicate with the Department of Legal and Legislative Policy to ensure appropriate legislative frameworks exist.

JMO turnover
Concerns have been raised regarding high JMO turnover, with individuals leaving their employment prior to the conclusion of their contract. Barriers to completing contracts as described by junior doctors include: difficulty accessing leave, increasing work pressures, unpaid overtime creep, bullying and harassment, and junior doctor burnout and exhaustion. The DiTC, along with the JMO Forum, have advocated that prioritisation needs to be given to ensuring JMOs have access to their full entitlement of leave each year, including annual leave, professional development leave, and sick leave. An adequate staff force is critical to ensure our staffing reserves remain at an appropriate level, and at times where leave isn’t required, this reserve can be utilised by relieving some of the burden from other units during times of flexed beds and increased demand.

For more information view the DiT Resources page. 

The Directors of Clinical Training (DCT) Committee is established as a committee of the Advisory Council to provide advice to the Advisory Council on any aspect of the Advisory Council’s functions from the perspective of the DCTs employed in an incorporated hospital under the Act.

The committee is chaired by Dr Michelle McIntosh.

To view the Terms of Reference, please click here.

The Medical Education Officer (MEO) Subcommittee is established as a Subcommittee of the Directors of Clinical Training (DCT) Committee to:

• Provide advice to the Health Advisory Council through the Directors of Clinical Training (DCT) Committee on any aspect of the Advisory Council’s functions from the perspective of the Medical Education Officers (MEOs) employed in an incorporated hospital under the Act; and
• Allow sharing of resources, ideas and knowledge across South Australian hospitals.

The committee is chaired by Natalie Michael.

To view the Terms of Reference, please click here.