One of the sand flies inhabiting The Daily Examiner letters column gets swatted by Clarence Valley photographer Debrah Novak

Letter to the Editor in The Daily Examiner on 1 April 2014:

Editorialising

THE editorial by Deb Novak in Saturday's edition of DEX (29/03) gave food for thought.

In fact, it looked very much to me as though Ms Novak was making a pitch to the Clarence Valley electorate.

I am aware of a rumour that Ms Novak intends to contest a place in the next CVC elections.

If this is so, then Ms Novak should be required to declare her intentions and pay for any self-promoting material she produces for the local press.

Publishing such editorials in the local newspaper while employed by that newspaper is quite unacceptable.

Thomas Macindoe

Yamba

Note: Rumours are just rumours on this one. Debrah has declared she has no intention of running in the next Clarence Valley Council election. In her words: "As a proactive member of the CVC community for 30 years I have never needed politics to raise my voice or step up for my community."

So you thought the Gillard Government had promised you would control your own e-Health database information?

You thought the Gillard Government had promised you would control your own personal, social and medical information included in the e-Health national database and whether this information was ever accessed by health professionals?

Well Brisbane GP Dr Steve Hambleton (left) is one of many who don’t think so and, who as Federal President of the Australian Medical Association set out to create the legal right to trawl for information without the consent or knowledge of the individual.

It is inevitable that this information (often anecdotally filtered through the biased eye of family members) will in many instances be included in the e-Health database and, because it is included in someone else's files there will be no right to insist inaccurate information is corrected or deleted.

Having worked in multidisciplinary teams in the past, I know that in certain areas of public health hard copy patient files often contain what can only be described as elements of  unsubstantiated gossip. There is no reason to believe that Dr. Hambleton's desire to trawl for information will be any better at sorting the wheat from the chaff. 

Dr. Hambleton’s application to the Privacy Commissioner.

The result…………………………

Legislative Instruments

Privacy Act 1988 - Part VI - Public Interest Determination No. 12 - Collection of Family, Social and Medical Histories This Determination permits a specific health service provider to collect third party health information from an individual (or a person 'responsible' for an individual) without the third party's consent, for inclusion in the individual's family, social or medical history.

Some or all of this item commenced

http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2011L02569

Privacy Act 1988 - Part VI - Public Interest Determination No. 12A - Collection of Family, Social and Medical Histories

This Determination gives general effect to Public Interest Determination No. 12 to permit health service providers to collect third party health information from an individual (or a person 'responsible' for an individual) without the third party's consent, for inclusion in the individual's family, social or medical history.

Some or all of this item commenced

http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2011L02573

Photograph found at Google Images