If you are a patient or are a doctor who has patients who are wondering how they can have input into the MBA public consultation following is a brief guide.
What to cover in your submission to the MBA
It is important that the MBA hear how vital integrating care is to patients. Submissions should focus on:
- why you support patient access to complementary and integrative medicine
- keeping the status quo and rejecting a separate set of guidelines for your doctor
Personal stories of how integrative and/or complementary medicine have helped you are powerful. In your submission you could consider the following:
- What your health was like before you found the integrative approach
- Any difficulties you had in getting appropriate care
- How an integrative approach has transformed your health/wellbeing
- Why the right to choose your medical care is important to you
Things to avoid putting in your submission
- The name of your doctor
- Being specific about your treatments
Further, the MBA asks people to choose between two options (see below). AIMA’s preferred position is Option 1. Please indicate on your submission your preference.
Option 1 – Retain the status quo of providing general guidance about the Board’s expectations of medical practitioners who provide complementary and unconventional medicine and emerging treatments via the Board’s approved code of conduct.
Option 2 – Strengthen current guidance for medical practitioners who provide complementary and unconventional medicine and emerging treatments through practice-specific guidelines that clearly articulate the Board’s expectations of all medical practitioners and supplement the Board’s Good medical practice: A code of conduct for doctors in Australia.
How to make a submission to the MBA
Submissions close on 30 June 2019.
Submissions can be sent by email, marked ‘Public consultation on complementary and unconventional medicine and emerging treatments’ to:
Submissions can also be made by post to:
Executive Officer, Medical,
AHPRA,
GPO Box 9958,
Melbourne 3001.
Ensuring your privacy
Please be aware that submissions can be printed on the MBA website at the discretion of the MBA. If you do not wish this to happen, or if you’re happy for this to happen provided any identifying information is removed please indicate this in your submission.
Read the proposed guidelines
You can read the MBA’s proposed guidelines at: https://www.medicalboard.gov.au/news/current-consultations.aspx
Download a flyer for your patients
You can download a flyer for your patients here.