Australasian Society of Anaesthesia Paramedical Officers

Presidents' Reports

On this page you can find ASAT/ASAPO Chairman's Reports from the most current back to March 2009. For reports prior to this, please see the Reports Archive.

PRESIDENT'S REPORT DECEMBER 2011

Hi everyone. It’s been another busy year for ASAPO. There has been a lot happening around Australia. So let me fill you in about the state of the nation.

National Paediatric Anaesthesia Seminar Saturday 18 June 2011
Ella Latham Theatre, Royal Children’s Hospital.

The education seminar was an outstanding success with over 230 delegates attending. The day ran like clockwork thanks to the hardworking organising committee: Theresa Kellam, Matthew Stockton, Luis Facci and myself. The online survey commissioned by ASAPO regarding satisfaction in relation to the seminar came back over 95%. Click to see photos and Information on the seminar

ASAPO'S 12th Annual Education Conference 3 & 4 November 2012

The 2012 ASAPO conference is to be held at the new Royal Children’s in Victoria on 3 & 4 November 2012 and looks like being our biggest and best conference yet. This is due to the state of the art facilities being made available to us at the new Royal Children's Hospital. The conference will be held the weekend before the Melbourne Cup, so accommodation will be at a premium. Not to worry: ASAPO has negotiated a deal with Rydges Hotels Carlton and Nth Melbourne and secured accommodation for that period of time. Details will be made available on the ASAPO website. It is important to note that you should book your accommodation well in advance to avoid disappointment. Click to book accommodation:

Rydges North Melbourne
Rydges on Swanston

ASAPO Executive meeting in Sydney

The ASAPO executive committee meeting was held on 15 & 16 October 2011 at the Royal Prince Alfred in Sydney. The ASAPO executive meets face to face once at least once a year to discuss relevant issues.

The committee also discusses the future goals for ASAPO and how to achieve these goals. The weekend was a hard slog but I am happy to say that the committee completed its large workload. Please take time to read the meeting minutes and you will see the amount of hard work that ASAPO is putting in on behalf of Anaesthetic Technicians in Australia. Click to read Minutes

Good news in Queensland

Good news in Queensland with anaesthesia technicians being transitioned into the health professional stream. This will mean improved career structure, pay and conditions for all Queensland anaesthetic technicians. This has been a massive achievement and it has not come out of the blue. The agreement has been a hard fought battle and has taken over five years with multiple parties being involved such as QSAT, AWU and ASAPO. I would like to congratulate all the parties for their hard work and commitment.

More new from QLD is that the Queensland Society of Anaesthetic Technicians (past and present members) has overwhelmingly agreed to close and fully merge with ASAPO. The process of the merger is currently underway and requires a series of mandatory steps such as auditing QSAT’s monitory accounts. We will keep you informed about the process as news comes to hand.

Mandatory Government National Registration

Recently an anxious ASAPO registrant contacted me. He thought that ASAPO had fallen behind in the timeline for achieving national registration. This in fact couldn’t be further than the truth. There is much hard work going on behind the scenes.

At present time ASAPO is commissioning studies by a private company: Wikimm Professional Writing Services. These studies are to further strengthen ASAPO’s submission to the government for mandatory national registration of anaesthetic technicians.

ASAPO and the Association of Operating Theatre Practitioners Western Australia are jointly funding these projects. The studies, listed below, should be completed early next year and submission to AHPRA should follow shortly after.

1) A literary review of "incidents and deaths caused by inadequate or untrained anaesthetic assistance".

2) A literary review of all of the collected job descriptions and scopes of practice collected to date.

3) Do the activities of the Anaesthetic Assistant pose a significant risk of harm to the health and safety of the public?

4) A comparison of these three countries (Great Britain, New Zealand, and Australia) anaesthetic assistant scopes of practice and job descriptions, and also whether they are nationally registered or not.

If you have any further information that would contribute to the successful outcome of these studies please contact Ray Murtagh National Registration Committee Oversight: murtaghr@ramsayhealth.com.au

Positive developments in Victoria

Although Victoria has had its share of setbacks in the past, there have recently been some positive developments.

The Diploma of Paramedical Science (Anaesthesia) HLT50607 will be commencing in late January at Box Hill Institute. I wish all the students the best of luck in their endeavours to become qualified anaesthetic technicians. They have our full support. For further information please contact Anneliese Connelly: Senior Educator - Health & Wellbeing Courses on 03 9286 9151 a.connelly@bhtafe.edu.au
Click to see further details

The most exiting news to come out of Victoria is that the anaesthetic technologists at The Royal Children's Hospital have been granted the Poison Permit. The Poison Permit is for the Anaesthesia Technologists to possess keys to access, transport, manage and inventory of hospital medications, including S4, S8 and S11 poisons. This was approved by the drugs and poisons unit at the Victorian Department of Health. One of the Mandatory requirements is the permit holder be registered with ASAPO.

WA moving from certificate four to Diploma of Paramedical Science

I was recently contacted by Florence Miller, Lecturer/Coordinator, Central Institute of Technology WA who informed me that from 2012 will be moving from certificate four to diploma.

This is excellent news, as it will benefit ASAPO’s submission for national registration if all states are working from the same education package.
If you would like to know more about WA moving towards the diploma please contact Florence.Miller@central.wa.edu.au

Possible name change for ASAPO

On our ASAPO website we have commissioned a survey for a possible name change for our organisation. At our executive meeting in Sydney, the name change issue was discussed. The question was asked: Does the name Australasian Society of Anaesthesia Paramedical Officers currently reflects the increasing day-to-day clinical role of the anaesthetic technician? So have your say. Click to fill out the survey

ASAPO is involved in many educational and political projects happening around Australia. Please take time to go to the links on this president’s report and then you will realize that ASAPO is currently doing the job that your registration fees pay for and much more. You will also realize that ASAPO is building a solid foundation to achieve national registration. ASAPO is working to unite all states and has a clear vision for the future of Anaesthetic Technicians in Australia.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

It has been another challenging year for ASAPO. So on that note the team at ASAPO would like to wish you all a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thanks you all for your support and we will see and hear from you in 2012.

Very Best
John Byrne
ASAPO President

PRESIDENT'S REPORT APRIL 2011

The first few months of 2011 have been very busy for the ASAPO executive. There has been a series of meetings involving state and national governments and unions in relation to national registration. These meeting are critical in mapping out our future direction for this matter.

National Government Act

National Registration is complex. The Federal government is looking at simplifying registration by creating a government act that blankets all unregistered healthcare workers. This act is similar to the one that already exists in NSW. It is far from the best system but it could end up as our only viable option.

There have been a series of meetings in each state regarding this blanket registration. ASAPO has been on the ground floor at most of these meetings. ASAPO wants to give as much input as possible to the government in order to move this scheme forward in a direction that ASAPO is satisfied with. If you would like to find out more information about this national registration scheme please open this PDF.

Mandatory national registration submission

A fortnight ago Ray Murtagh, Vice President of ASAPO, and I met with the Health Services Union regarding an individual submission for mandatory national registration by ASAPO to the Federal government.

The HSU have given their full support for our registration project. ASAPO will be working closely with Kerren Clark who is a consultant legislator contracted by the union to aid us with our submission. So to put it bluntly the only thing stopping us from our goal of mandatory national registration is our own inaction. So how can anaesthetic technicians help? You can help by supplying ASAPO with the following information.

1) Any scopes of practice within your hospital environments for anaesthetic technicians
2) Any competencies available for anaesthetic technicians
3) Any position descriptions available for anaesthetic technicians
4) Any of your hospital or health region medication administration policies, which relate to anaesthetic technicians.

Please send all of this information to Ray Murtagh, National Registration Committee Oversight, at vicepresident@asapo.org.au.

Education seminars.

Unfortunately due to logistics issues ASAPO will have no national conference for 2011. ASAPO instead will run a series of education seminars in several states. The first seminar kicks off in June in Victoria. ASAPO will let you know well in advance when the other meetings are happening.

ASAP0 National Paediatric Anaesthesia Seminar, Saturday 18 June 2011, Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, Victoria. Open flyer

Subjects include:

Psychology of induction

Recovering the paediatric patient

The latest in paediatric resuscitation

Airway management

What anaesthetic equipment to use?

Ultrasound

Gas Induction vs. intravenous cannulation

Special Presentation:

Separation of the conjoined twins

By Dr Ian McKenzie, Director, Department of Anaesthesia & Pain Management

Sponsored By

Organisation: Australasian Society of Anaesthetic Paramedical Officers
Place: Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville Victoria 3052
Venue: Ella Latham Theatre (main building 1st floor)
Date: 18.6.2011
Time: 0915 to 1600
Registration cost: AUD $130
Registration cost for RCH staff: AUD $110
(Includes: lunch, morning and afternoon tea)
Please contact: Therese Kellam 0417 357 996 or email: therese.kellam@rch.org.au

The hospital is located in Parkville on the corner of Flemington Road and Gatehouse Street (Melway map 43 E3, UBD page no. 253 grid ref. B5)

Summary of ASAPO Achievements for 2010 & 2011

Established working relationships with key health industry stake holders:

Australian New Zealand Collage of Anaesthetists
Australian Society of Anaesthetists

Federal & state healthcare unions

Association of Operating Theatre Practitioners Western Australia

State and federal government health ministers

ASAPO National Conference

ASAPO National Conference in Christchurch New Zealand was an outstanding success.

Established national survey of anaesthetic technicians

We now have an extensive and detailed database of anaesthetic technicians working throughout Australia.

ASAPO’s financial affairs

ASAPO’s financial affairs including all BAS statements are now up to date with the Australian Taxation Department. Established official ASAPO accountants for all further ASAPO financial transitions. Accountants representing ASAPO are: Perfex www.perfex.com.au 1/178 Mt Dandenong Rd, Ringwood East Vic 3135 Ph:03 9016 8611

ASAPO Registration

Streamlined ASAPO’s registration process.
Re-established registration cards. Process still ongoing with new online registration system to come online in the next few weeks.

Listed above are some of ASAPO’s achievements for 2010 & 2011. I listed these achievements to let you know that the ASAPO committee is working harder than ever to achieve its promised goals. ASAPO is putting your registration fees to good use. I hope to see you all at these ongoing education seminars.

Very Best
John Byrne
ASAPO President

PRESIDENT'S REPORT DECEMBER 2010

This year in particular, 2010, has been an extremely challenging year for the ASAPO committee. Taxation and registration issues have held ASAPO back for many years. These issues have now all been resolved with a positive outcome for our organisation.

At this point of time I can finally say to all our registrants that ASAPO has turned the corner and we are now headed for a time of growth and stability.

With the recent AGM in Christchurch and the reshuffle of the ASAPO committee we now have the right people and systems in place to take ASAPO forward.

At this moment I would like to wish everyone a very happy holiday season.

Put your feet up and relax and enjoy a well-earned rest. I look forward to hearing from you in the New Year and remember: never give in, never give up.

Warm regards,

John Byrne
ASAPO President

PRESIDENT'S REPORT OCTOBER 2010

Mandatory National Registration

Mandatory National Registration is taking up the majority of the ASAPO committee's time at the moment. ASAPO is still in back and forwards correspondence with key stakeholders such as the College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA). Consequently there is not much to report - only that ASAPO is moving forward at a steady pace.

The hot topic at the moment is the regulation survey. Both the Australasian Society of Anaesthesia Paramedical Officers & Association of Operating Theatre Practitioners Western Australia are currently working towards the national registration of all anaesthetic technicians. Key groups whom we have canvassed for support have told us that they would like some indication as to whether anaesthetic technicians, Australia-wide, were in favour of National Registration.

ASAPO & AOTP need your support by encouraging your fellow anaesthetic technicians to complete the regulation survey. Filling out the survey will only take a few minutes. Your responses are important; they will influence the future direction of ASAPO & AOTP. Please click on the following link: www.asapo.org.au/survey/RegulationSurvey.php/.

Why are we seeking National Registration?

To ensure best practice standards throughout Australia thus improving patient safety.
To qualify unqualified anaesthetic technicians working in the healthcare system. Disciplinary committee that enforces code of conduct.
To protect the Australian public from people who have been de-registered in their own country gaining employment in Australia.
Although anaesthetic technicians have a voluntary registrations system, we want to remove the stigma of anaesthetic technicians being labelled unregulated. This is because: health care workers being labelled as unregulated limits our employment opportunities. At times certain health care groups have sought to denigrate our profession due to the fact we don't have compulsory registration. ASAPO wishes to remove that stigma.

New Executive

ASAPO has had a number of changes to its executive due to the resignations of some of the committee due to personal reasons. We now have a new treasurer and education officer. The new treasurer is Therese Kellam replacing Darren D'Achille. Therese is a paediatric anaesthesia technologist at the Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne. Therese was a past executive member of the Victorian Society Anaesthetic Technicians and has been in the health industry for twenty-five years. The new education officer is Gary Gibbs replacing Tony Hill. Gary is a qualified Operating Department practitioner as well a clinical educator for Integrated Care Management (NSW Registered Training Organisation).

Garry brings to ASAPO a wealth of knowledge. I would like to thank Darren and Tony for all their hard work and I wish them all the best for their future endeavours.

ASAPO Conference Christchurch 2010

The earthquake has not affected the conference venue and accommodation is open for business so the ASAPO 2010 conference is still going ahead.� The only accommodation I am still aware of that is closed is the Copthormne Hotel, which is some way away from where our conference will be held.�So let's go everyone!

Let's show what Aussie Anaesthetic Technicians are made of by supporting NZATS in their time of adversity by attending the New Zealand conference.

ASAPO Voluntary Registration

ASAPO registration renewals are due. Our apologies for the lateness of this reminder due to database issues.

Registration payments have increased to $20 for students and $75 for full membership.

If you are registering for the first time, please fill out the registration papers and send them along with the copies of your accredited course to my contact address below.

Education that has been attended in the last 12 months also needs to be sent to ASAPO so that our records can be updated.

The ASAPO Online Store is closed until further notice due to a technical hitch. Could anybody who has paid their registration online over the past 9 months and not received their ASAPO registration please contact ASAPO on 61 (0)3 9607 8531 or email therese.kellam@rch.org.au.

For information on the progress of your application, please email annie.elder@gsahs.health.nsw.gov.au. Cheques and money orders will be directly deposited into the ASAPO account. Posted credit card details need to be sent to the treasurer for processing.

The ASAPO committee thank you for your continued support.

What keeps the ASAPO executive motivated?

The ASAPO committee is in contact with anaesthetic technicians from all over Australasia. Every week there is news of anaesthetic technicians making significant gains in their status as healthcare professionals. The fact that our registrants are going forward helps ASAPO to go forward - it's as simple as that. So if you have had positive changes in relation to your work as an anaesthetic technician large or small share it with everyone on our web page online bulletin board.

Very Best

John Byrne
ASAPO President

PRESIDENT'S REPORT MAY 2010

ASAPO recently had its executive meeting on 16 & 17 April at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria.

The main reason for the meeting was to develop a unified strategy for all states for Mandatory Government Registration. The meeting was also attended by Roy Wyatt & Linda Long, President and Vice President of Association of Operating Theatre Practitioners from Western Australia. There was free and frank discussion and the executive committee covered a large amount of work.

Alison Horton from the Australian and New Zealand College of Perfusionists is the Project officer for National Registration in her organisation. Alison gave a presentation on the steps and pitfalls on National Registration. The perfusionists were declined national registration for a number of reasons. One of the main reasons was that they were already sufficiently well governed. Alison also advised us the submission has to be able to prove that Anaesthetic Technicians can be a danger to the patient and therefore should be regulated.

A submission is due to the Federal Government in the second half of this year. One of the important factors for a successful submission is having the support of the key industry stakeholders and of course for the more ASAPO registrants the better change for a successful submission. Also the more Anaesthetic Technicians on the ASAPO voluntary registration system the more the government will sit up and take notice.

Key Stakeholders

The Society for Paediatric Anaesthesia in New Zealand and Australia
ANZCA: Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists
ASA: Australian Society of Anaesthetists
State & Federal branches of unions (HSUA)
State & Federal Governments
Public & Private Hospitals
ASAPO Registrants
Association of Operating Theatre Practitioners of Western Australia (AOTP)

The process of gaining support with key stakeholders is well underway with multiple letters seeking support in our endeavour to gain registration. Meetings with the ANZCA & ASA executives have taken place. At these meetings I talked about the expanding roles of the Anaesthesia Technicians throughout Australasia. Our National Training Package, course structure and assignments were also a major topic of conversation. With both the ASA & ANZCA I reassured them that we were not seeking support at the expense of any other professional body.

The question raised by ANZCA & ASA was what our organisation sought to gain by achieving National Registration. That's a very good question which I will answer in point form below. We have had a positive reaction from both ANZCA & ASA. Their support is not a done deal. There is still more work to be done.

Why are we seeking National Registration?

Ensure best practice standards throughout Australia thus improving patient safety
Disciplinary committee that enforces code of conduct
To qualify unqualified Anaesthetic Technicians working in the healthcare system
Although Anaesthetic Technicians have a voluntary registrations system we want to remove the stigma of Anaesthetic Technicians being labelled unregulated, as Health Care workers being labelled as unregulated limits our employments opportunities. At times certain healthcare groups have sought to denigrate our profession due to the fact we don't have compulsory registration. ASAPO wishes to remove that stigma.

To be realistic it could take three to four years before we reach our goal of National Mandatory Registration. We are indeed fortunate that we have a clear and direct pathway at this stage. The outcome is not certain. What is certain is that ASAPO will submit the very best submission to the government as possible. ASAPO will use every resource in its power to do so.

More people are joining our National Registration committee with recently Garry Gibbs clinical educator from one of NSW Registered Training Organisation.

So as you can see with everyone's support we can gain momentum and become an unstoppable force that just could get us over the line. It is possible.

Please note: Coming soon 2010 ASAPO Melbourne executive meeting online: www.asapo.org.au

John Byrne
ASAPO President

PRESIDENT'S REPORT FEBRUARY 2010

Criticism of ASAPO in the past has been well founded.The fact that registrants are now in back and forth communication with our organisation is proof that ASAPO's culture is changing. The interim ASAPO committee inherited a collapsed organisation thirteen months ago. The new committee has worked extremely hard to rebuild the organisation.

What follows is just a sample of a large number of achievements in the past thirteen months that might help you with your decision to join ASAPO.

We have:

a fully elected ASAPO committee which was elected at the Cairns Conference AGM 2009. We have fifteen elected committee members and also number of ASAPO registrants on sub-committees. The ASAPO committee members represent all States where they employ APOs, including Western Australia
re-established relations with WA which is now the AOTP organisation. A joint meeting will be held at the Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne 16th and 17th of April 2010. This meeting will focus on both organisations' strategies and unite in our approach to national registration. A national registration submission to the government is due to start from July 2010
re-establishment of ASAPO national conferences with this year's conference in New Zealand and 2011 in Canberra
established a mandatory government nation registration committee overseen by ASAPO vice president Ray Murtagh. The committee also includes a census project manager Gary Rolley. His job will be to establish the exact amount of non-nursing Anaesthesia Assistants in Australia
ensured that ASAPO financial books are being audited for the first time in six years which is still ongoing. We have recently successfully completed an Australian Tax Dept audit. Financial transparency is our organisation's ultimate goal
rebuilt the website with information being updated fortnightly. The website also contains 24 hr ASAPO contact lines including fax with email contact for every ASAPO committee member Phone: 61 (0)3 9607 8531 Fax: 61 (0)3 9607 8282
also ensured that the website includes important information and links to the relevant training organisations such as Integrated Care Management NSW. Archival website facilities are available for information on past ASAPO activity

ASAPO registration is one of the biggest challenges for the ASAPO organisation. I know personally that Annie Elder is using all her skills in streamlining the ASAPO registration system. One of my first jobs as President was to extract old ASAPO information from past committee members (computers etc). And it is now only kept by the relevant ASAPO committee members. The ASAPO storage and filing was in disarray; ASAPO registrants' information was extracted and sent to Annie Elder, our ASAPO National Registrar, thanks to a committee member from Brisbane. I wish I could say there was an easy fix to ASAPO registration. There are no short term solutions except for hard work and patience.

We now have a large number of APOs working throughout Australasia for our ongoing professional future is a quite an achievement in itself. I thank you for your support through difficult times. Hopefully most of the hard times are behind us.

Please do not hesitate to contact me to discuss ASAPO's future. Registrants are most welcome to join in on our monthly ASAPO committee teleconferences.

John Byrne
ASAPO President

PRESIDENT'S REPORT OCTOBER 2009

I have talked to many Registrants at the ASAPO Cairns conference. Many with different opinions on how to approach ASAPO's future. The one common denominator from all your opinions is: let's get behind our professional body ASAPO in order to move our Industry forward.

Last year, 2008, if ASAPO was a patient it would have been classed as critically ill. Everyone had grave fears for its survival. The relatives were waiting to flick the switch.

However today with much extensive treatment ASAPO is stable, discharged from ICU. But ASAPO will need extensive ongoing rehabilitation. To put it plainly and simply, ASAPO's future is up to you. Every day the committee receives many emails from APOs from Australasia, and in fact from all over the world. The number of APOs in Australia would easily reach the several thousand. ASAPO's growth potential is enormous. We have just started to unite.

Now that ASAPO is stable I personally would have like to be further ahead with ASAPO's progress (for example ASAPO voluntary registration). The problem is that finding committee members who actually commit and fulfil their obligations is extremely rare.

This conference does show that ASAPO is truly back in business, but only because of a few dedicated people stepping up and taking responsibility for their professional future. I ask you are you one of those dedicated professionals?

I know personally that that the Conference Committee - Katharine Kenny, Garry Rolley, Darren D'Achille, Gerard Morgan and everyone who has helped with the conference - has worked hard to bring you the best conference possible.

The Conference Committee has faced many difficult challenges such as the Global Financial Crisis and the instability of ASAPO in the latter months of last year. They did not call me once to complain. They rolled up their sleeves and got on with the job. The performance of the Conference Committee has been outstanding. I would also like to thank the companies that participated in the trade show and a special mention goes to Covidian Tyco for the ongoing sponsorship of the Alison Holloway award. Without trade support and backing we would not be here today.

I look forward to seeing you all at the 2010 ASAPO Conference in Christchurch, New Zealand. Once again I would like to thank everyone involved in making Cairns 2009 an enjoyable and fantastic conference.

John Byrne
ASAPO President

PRESIDENT'S REPORT JULY 2009

It has been six months since we decided to restructure ASAPO. Although we have succeeded in achieving many goals ASAPO we still face many new challenges. As soon as we fix one problem it seems another is created.

One criticism labelled at ASAPO in the past was the lack of financial transparency within the organisation. The present ASAPO committee is not responsible for this lack of financial transparency and is doing everything in its powers to reverse this problem.

ASAPO has now completed a six year independent financial audit by accountants Rowe & Co. The Audit has now put ASAPO on the radar of the Australian Taxation Department and they are in the process of completing a further financial audit. This audit is standard procedure and all audit results will be available in the next few months and will be posted on the ASAPO website.

ASAPO Voluntary Registration

At this present moment Voluntary Registration is turning out to be one of our biggest challenges.

One of the main problems is that the ASAPO committee members have full time clinical jobs. This often restricts us on how much time is devoted to ASAPO. We have been working hard towards a quicker response time for registrants' applications. In order to improve voluntary registration we have appointed an additional person to coordinate applications. The new registrar is Annie Elder: annie.elder@gsahs.health.nsw.gov.au

We are expected to see an improvement in the next few months as our new system comes into play. I would like to thank all registrants for their patience on this matter. You as ASAPO registrants are very important and we apologise for any inconvenience.

Western Australia

Last week I telephoned Roy Wyatt, the chairperson of the Association of Operating Theatre Practitioners, formerly the Western Australian Society of Anaesthesia Technicians. In this discussion we concluded that ASAPO and AOTP should form closer ties with both organisations working together for a positive future for our profession.

This will include WA ASAPO/AOTP committee representatives being more proactive. To achieve mandatory registration all states must work together.

Final

The website is now fully up and running with many new features. We have received positive feedback for its layout and solid content. The website will evolve even further as ASAPO grows.

Finally I would like to say I have been very impressed with the present committee. The last six months have been tough but throughout this period the ASAPO committee has not wavered from its purpose and direction. ASAPO's purpose and direction is to create a dynamic and robust national organisation for all our registrants. This will happen and we will succeed.

John Byrne
Acting ASAPO President

The ASAPO Conference by Katherine Kenny, conference convenor

Conference planning is progressing well – delegate registrations are starting to roll in with numbers increasing on a daily basis.

The speakers are currently working enthusiastically to produce a diverse program which will appeal to all that attend, and the organising committee is indebted to the time and effort they are injecting into the conference to make it diverse and interesting. The musical entertainment, Raunch, we are arranging for the Saturday evening should prove to be as intriguing as their name indicates and should cater for all musical tastes.

Trade Exhibitors are really coming on board to support the Annual ASAPO Conference with registrations continuing to come in.

A reminder to all that the date of 9 August for the Alison Holloway Award for the most outstanding research paper or study is drawing to a close and that $2000 is at stake. So get cracking and get your paper to us as soon as possible. May the best entry win.

National Mandatory Registration by Ray Murtagh, Acting Vice President ASAPO

Well I suppose you would all like to know what your association has been up to in regard to achieving National Mandatory Registration for Anaesthetic Assistants.
To adequately achieve National Mandatory Registration we need membership to increase and for membership to increase we need to account for all of those (non-nursing) Anaesthetic Assistants currently employed in hospitals across Australia in private and public healthcare, who do not meet the current National Health Training Package Guidelines (HLT42607 Certificate IV in Anaesthetic Technology or the HLT50607 Diploma of Paramedical Science (Anaesthesia)).

To get the ball rolling an email was sent out to all Health Ministers asking for their support, with mixed results. The email made it clear that as a profession we were concerned at the number of Anaesthetic Assistants (non-nursing), coming to our attention who are employed across Australia who do not meet any of the above guidelines.

Three Health Ministers agreed to forward our concerns to the relevant Health Departments. The others just failed to respond. I will continue to chase these up.

I have contacted the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme, who were helpful. They sent a Document “Attachment A” which outlines several key criteria which must be compiled and submitted to them to enable us to apply for National Registration. All committee members of ASAPO have been emailed this document. In the coming months I will be gathering the information; this information will be collated into a formal submission which will be reviewed by the ASAPO committee. This will become our national mandatory registration submission.

As well as the above, I have been canvassing Ramsay Healthcare to look at the credentialing of Non-Nursing Anaesthetic Assistants within their organisation. Early days yet but the signs are promising. I will also begin to canvass other private health care providers in the near future. If this is successful I will begin to look at the credentialing of Anaesthetic Assistants within the public system also.

It must be remembered that National Mandatory Registration will not happen overnight. It is going to take a lot of hard work and effort, maybe even a couple of years to achieve. If you are not currently a member of ASAPO, please consider becoming one, as we need your support as much as you need ours. National Mandatory Registration is our goal so let's all work together to achieve it.

PRESIDENT'S REPORT MARCH 2009

I would like to welcome everyone to the new ASAPO. The Acting Committee has been working diligently over the past several months in order to restructure ASAPO. The Committee has held a teleconference on an average once a fortnight. ASAPO has had its Executive Meeting in Sydney on the 6th & 7th March 2009 at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.

A minority claimed that it was impossible to rebuild ASAPO. Those words only made us dig our heels in and work harder. There have also been some negative comments – i.e. the Queensland agenda dominating the ASAPO Committee. I assure you that all States are represented equally and everyone on the ASAPO Committee has a voice. The Northern Territory and South Australian are now on board the Committee. Our goal is to grow a strong vibrant committee. That's the way to build a successful ASAPO.

ASAPO Executive Committee Meeting Minutes
6/7 March 2009 RPAH Sydney

The ASAPO Executive met in Sydney in early March over two days.
The main theme to come out of the meeting is the absolute commitment for all involved to build a strong robust organisation. Here is an example of the main points that came out of the meeting in Sydney:

1. ASAPO's number one priority is mandatory government registration.

2. ASAPO's need for monetary transparency with auditing of ASAPO's books on a yearly basis.

3. The need to have an up-to-date constitution and the development of an ASAPO mission statement with clearly defined protocols.

4. Stronger links with registered training organizations to promote further training of Anaesthesia Paramedical Officers.

5. Stronger communication links with ASAPO registrants and to make the Voluntary ASAPO Registration process as straight forward as possible.

The meeting minutes will be available on the ASAPO website: www.asapo.org.au

NATIONAL REGISTRATION

As said in the past national registration is absolutely ASAPO's number 1 priority.

Ray Murtagh has been appointed to chair the ASAPO Registration Working Party that will guide us down the road to national registration. At present we are in negotiation with such groups as Clinical Perfusionist in joining us together in the process. A larger professional group makes it more ideal for the government to consider us. Please encourage those who haven't registered with ASAPO to do so.

The ASAPO Committee, as a group, has kept a high profile with the relevant government department including Kevin Rudd. Coming soon on the ASAPO website will include an archive of documents in relation to Paramedical Officers. This will include national registration documentation.

ASAPO VOLUNTARY REGISTRATION

Voluntary registration is something close to my heart. I am very passionate about developing voluntary registration. This will lead us down the road to national registration.

The ASAPO Committee has made a number of changed regarding Voluntary Registration process and membership.

No membership / associate membership.
Electronic registration (coming soon), can scan, pay on-line and submit your form on-line.
At present Overseas Voluntary Registration has been put on hold. This is due to the governments seeking further information on overseas qualifications. ODP and ODA and associated courses are still recognized by ASAPO for registration, due to the registration requirements in the United Kingdom. We will keep you posted on further developments.
Please check the Voluntary Registration form on the ASAPO website for further information on who can register with ASAPO.

THE ANNUAL ASAPO NATIONAL CONFERENCE 2009

The ASAPO Conference is to be held in Cairns on the 9th, 10th and 11th October 2009. The 2010 conference will be in New Zealand and 2011 in Canberra.

The Cairns conference looks like being our most successful conference ever. We have already had a large number of delegates and trade interested in this event.

The conference will include an AGM to elect the formal committee. If you are interested in serving on the committee, contact the Secretary of ASAPO Paul Yousif – ap.yousif@bigpond.com

You don't have to attend the conference to be elected on the committee.

For information regarding the conference please contact:

Katherine Kenny - Conference Coordinator.
Email: katherine_kenny@health.qld.gov.au

Gary Rolley - Exhibitor Liaison
Email: Gary_rolley@health.qld.gov.au

Darren D'Achille - Delegate Liaison
Email: Darren_dachille@health.qld.gov.au

Jared Morgan - Advertising
Email: Jared_morgan@health.qld.gov.au

The Future Direction of ASAPO

ASAPO has not communicated all its activities to the 'membership' in the last few years, which has led to a belief that it has not been functioning in the best interest of Anaesthesia Paramedical Officers nationally. We can learn from the lack of transparency of the past and move forward. The first new committee meeting was conducted in the middle of December 2008. Three months have passed and ASAPO has achieved a considerable amount. ASAPO has a more certain future, thanks to people in our profession stepping up to the plate. Building confidence in ASAPO can only be gained by ASAPO showing consistency of purpose and consistency of action. This is what ASAPO plans to show you.

John Byrne
Acting ASAPO President

For reports prior to this, please see the Reports Archive.