The Checkup

The regulatory landscape surrounding medicinal cannabis in Australia is evolving rapidly, with significant implications for healthcare professionals, legal practitioners, and insurers alike. Staying informed is essential to ensure compliance with new standards and to support safe, ethical prescribing practices. In this episode of The Checkup, BN’s Lee Lenkinski and Joshua Scott revisit the topic o...

Content warning: this episode of The Checkup discusses highly sensitive topics, including death and suicide. If you find this episode triggering, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14. The evolving landscape of voluntary assisted dying (VAD) presents significant ethical and legal challenges for healthcare professionals in Australia. Understanding these complexities is crucial for ensuring compliance...

The legalisation of medicinal cannabis has opened new treatment pathways for patients across Australia, but it also presents complex regulatory and legal challenges for healthcare professionals. Navigating these intricacies is essential to ensure compliance with evolving legislation while delivering safe and effective care. In this episode of The Checkup, BN’s Lee Lenkinski and Joshua Scott explor...

Content warning: this episode of The Checkup discusses highly sensitive topics, including sexual assault. If you find this episode triggering, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14. Healthcare professionals are entrusted with the wellbeing of their patients, a relationship that carries an inherent power imbalance. Maintaining professional boundaries is critical, yet challenging, as overstepping thes...

Content warning: this episode of The Checkup discusses highly sensitive topics, including vicarious trauma and psychological harm. If you find this episode triggering, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14. As legal professionals, we might find ourselves navigating emotionally challenging subject matters, graphic material or cases that involve emotionally charged parties. This can, in some instances...

Content warning: this episode of The Checkup discusses highly sensitive topics, including death and suicide. If you find this episode triggering, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.   The Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) laws have been passed in all Australian states and are currently being rolled out across the country. While the laws are already in operation in some states, other states will comm...

Content warning: this episode of The Checkup discusses highly sensitive topics involving children so listener discretion is advised.  Who makes the decision when it comes to withdrawing a patient's life support? The recent UK case of Archie Battersbee has brought to light the challenging issues courts consider when intervening in cases relating to withdrawal of life support. When these tragic and...

Content warning: this episode of The Checkup discusses highly sensitive topics, including death and suicide. If you find this episode triggering, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14. In Australia, criminal law prohibits active voluntary euthanasia, however Voluntary Assisted Dying legislation has been introduced and/or passed in various states, making it accessible for persons who meet a certain c...

Understandably, the thought of being contacted by the Health Complaints Commissioner (HCC) following a complaint can be stressful for practitioners and health service providers. However, in many cases, this is usually a result of a lack of understanding of the HCC's processes. In this episode of The Checkup, BN's Scott Shelly is joined by Felicity Lathrop, Resolutions Manager for the Health Compla...

Most people will be familiar with the very public rise and fall of Britney Spears - from pop princess to a young mother tormented by the paparazzi, and the toll this inevitably took on her mental health which played out publicly for the world to see. However, in recent years, Britney has hit headlines for unexpected reasons. It's come to light that she has been the subject of a conservatorship sin...

As we continue to witness the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic around the world, especially across countries like the UK, the US and of course, the devastating effect its having on India, the development and implementation of the COVID-19 vaccination has become an important and topical conversation for everyone.   In this episode of The Checkup, BN’s Kate Hickey and Hannah Shiel are joined, once ag...

If the COVID-19 pandemic taught us anything, it’s the importance of having the necessary infrastructure in place to allow us the ability to pick up the phone and get the health and medical assistance we require. This includes mental health support. Telehealth hasn’t just helped prevent the spread of the virus, it’s made quality healthcare more accessible to people who, due to various circumstances...

Since the Closing the Gap initiative began 10 years ago, some progress has been made to improve the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. But there is still work to be done in achieving equity in Indigenous health. In this episode, BN's Melissa Carius is joined by Avelina Tarrago to discuss the cultural and legal issues for health practitioners who have patients of Aboriginal and...

Whilst COVID-19 caused incredible loss, fear and panic around the world, there was a silver lining to the pandemic – a rejuvenation of our environment. With the world in lockdown and an unprecedented downturn in manufacturing, there has since been countless observations and reports of a worldwide ‘re-awakening’ and renewal of our ecosystems due to a reduction in burning fossil fuels. But as we beg...

The Coronavirus, or COVID-19, was first discovered in Wuhan (China) in January this year and has rapidly spread throughout the world causing mass fear and panic on an immense scale. In this episode, BN’s Kate Hickey sits down with Dr Lai Heng Foong to discuss COVID-19, her experiences on the frontline of fighting a worldwide pandemic and some tips on how we can best manage the virus as a community...

The health care environment – with its heavy workloads, demanding pace and significant time pressures – can put practitioners at a high risk of burnout. In this episode, BN's Sam Pillay and Katrina Mawer discuss biohacking, resilience and overcoming burnout with Chelsea Pottenger. Chelsea is the director of EQ Consulting, international speaker, mental health ambassador, and key figure in the mindf...

World Antibiotic Week runs from 18 to 24 November 2019, aiming to draw attention to the effective use of antibiotics (a type of antimicrobial) in preventing and containing antimicrobial resistance. With World Antibiotic Week in mind, in this episode of The Checkup, BN's Emma Topen talks to Dr Mark Blaskovich from the University of Queensland's Institute for Molecular Bioscience. They chat all thin...

For those not familiar with Keli Lane’s story, she is a former Australian water polo player who made headlines throughout the country when her baby mysteriously went missing, sparking a coronial inquest into her disappearance. In December 2010, Keli was convicted of murder and sentenced to 18 years in prison.  In the third and final instalment of our Keli Lane podcast series, BN's Sarah Carlisle a...

For those not familiar with Keli Lane’s story, she is a former Australian water polo player who made headlines throughout the country when her baby mysteriously went missing, sparking a coronial inquest into her disappearance. In December 2010, Keli was convicted of murder and sentenced to 18 years in prison.  In Part 2, BN's Sarah Carlisle is joined by Kathryn Smith, a clinical psychologist and t...

For those not familiar with Keli Lane’s story, she is a former Australian water polo player who made headlines throughout the country when her baby mysteriously went missing, sparking a coronial inquest into her disappearance. In December 2010, Keli was convicted of murder and sentenced to 18 years in prison.  In Part 1 of the series, BN's Sarah Carlisle is joined by Dr Baade, an obstetrician and...

In this episode BN's Sam Pillay and Emma Harman are lucky enough to be joined by Matthew Hickey, barrister at Level 27 Chambers in Brisbane. Together they look at when court orders are necessary to authorise the medical treatment of a child, how the courts become involved and what factors they consider in reaching a decision. Episode notes: Baby K case - Children's Health Queensland Hospital and H...

Good health care starts with good communication, and this starts with accurate clinical record keeping. Nursing is a 24 hour job, and as practitioners pass the baton onto the next shift, precise record keeping is imperative to ensure clinical disasters are averted. In this episode of The Checkup, BN's Jodeen Brewer is joined by Melinda Zerner QC to discuss the do's and don'ts of clinical record ke...

BN's Jasmin Sears in joined by Kathryn McMillan QC to discuss some tips and traps for medical professionals who might find themselves appearing in court to give evidence. This episode of The Checkup was recorded and edited by Audio Advantage - www.audioadvantage.com.au

In a report released by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) mid last year, it was revealed that: the main target for cyber criminals is the healthcare industry, and the largest cause of data breaches in Australia, following criminal attacks, is just simple human error. In this episode of The Checkup, BN's Robert Samut and Katrina Mawer are joined by Patricia McMillan, auth...

BN's Sarah Hull and Gillian Sheppard explore the world of badly behaved doctors and medical professionals - think intoxicated scrub nurses, inappropriate relationships between professionals and patients, and under qualified specialists. And provide some tips for what you should do if you're a health care professionals and a complaint is made against you.   This episode of The Checkup was recorded...