Inside News

37 / 64

Clinical Radiology
Volume 12 No 3 I June 2016 37
A Message
from the Dean
Medicare Reforms in Australia
RANZCR has been working hard behind
the scenes with government to progress
structural reforms and adequate
Medicare funding for diagnostic
imaging services in Australia. We are
particularly concerned that inadequate
funding has negative implications for
patient access, particularly among low
income and at risk groups, and the
delivery of safe and quality services. We
recently expressed disappointment that
government missed its original Quality
Framework reform deadlines, however
we continue to make representations at
all levels of government for adequate
funding and to progress long overdue
reforms to the sector.
International Day of Radiology
– 8 November 2016
I am pleased to announce that the
International Day of Radiology (IDoR)
2016 will focus on breast imaging and
the essential role that radiology plays in
detection, diagnosis and management
of breast diseases.
For IDoR 2016, the European Society
of Radiology (ESR), the Radiological
Society of North America (RSNA) and
the American College of Radiology
(ACR) are producing a publication on
the important role that radiology plays in
breast disease. The College was invited
to nominate an expert to participate
and I would like to thank Dr Michelle
Reintals, Chair of the Breast Imaging
Reference Group for contributing to this
work on behalf of the Faculty.
We have commenced preparation for
this important event over the past few
weeks, and look forward to providing
information and collaborating with you
all for IDoR 2016. Updates about the
campaign will be sent to members and
made available at
radiology/idor.
If you wish to be involved in the
campaign, please contact Neena
Mairata, Senior Advocacy Officer on
+ 61 2 9268 9771.
FCR Governance Review Update
In the September 2015 edition of Inside
News, Dr Greg Slater provided an
overview of activities of the Governance
Review Working Group. Their aim was
to review Faculty of Clinical Radiology
(FCR) committees, their governance
and suggest ways of optimising them to
support core College business and the
College’s Strategy to 2017.
The Governance Review Working
Group, consisting of Dr Greg Slater, Dr
Catherine Mandel, Sandra Keogh, Mark
Nevin, Scott Raymond (until March 2015)
and Daisy Garling, developed a clear
list of recommendations and a short
and long term implementation strategy
to apply these recommendations. The
report was approved by the FCR Council
and Board of Directors in July 2015.
However, implementation was placed
on hold until early 2016 due to the
Minister for Health’s announcement of
the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS)
Review in Australia.
With Dr Slater’s election to the position
of President, I stepped into Greg’s role
on the Governance Review Working
Group in February as work commenced
on implementation. To date, and
despite the workload associated with
the MBS review, we have:
• Developed generic terms of reference
for committees, working groups, special
interest groups and reference panels
• Abolished the Independent Practice
Group, the Cardiovascular Imaging
Group and the Nuclear Medicine Group
• Created the Safety, Quality and
Standards Committee—a new
standing committee in the Faculty
• Ensured that Faculty Councillors are
represented on FCR standing and
advisory committees to provide effective
communication with FCR Council.
We are presently working to align the
terms of reference of each current FCR
committee with generic templates and
remove any inconsistencies.
From the perspective of members,
this work will ensure a more consistent
operation of committees across the
Faculty, greater diversity of committee
membership and a more transparent
process during expressions of interest
(EOI) to elect committee members and
committee chairs. After a transition
phase, a third of the committee
members will be replaced or re-
appointed every calendar year to allow
for even rotation of the membership
while providing continuity in decision
making. I strongly encourage any of you
with an interest to respond to EOIs for
College committees as they arise.
The full Governance Review Report was
circulated to the membership via a Dean’s
communique recently. If you have any
feedback or questions, please contact the
Faculty team via .
Prof John
Slavotinek