2019 Autumn Cup
May 7, 2019AMA (NSW) President: The State’s hospitals are not built for this kind of pressure
June 12, 2019
30 May 2019
AMA (NSW) President, Dr Kean-Seng Lim has urged the Government to uphold the lock-out laws.
“These measures have successfully reduced alcohol-related injuries in Sydney. To wind them back now would be foolish.
“Time and time again people get complacent when health measures start to work well. We’ve seen that with vaccines and we’re also seeing that with the drop in use of condoms.
“Don’t let the lock-out laws be a victim of their own success,” Dr Lim said.
“Since the measures were introduced, there has been a dramatic reduction in alcohol-related presentations to hospitals – a 60% decrease in fractures at St Vincent’s Hospital, and a significant drop in other alcohol-related injuries.
“The public hospital system is already over-stretched as it is, and there is a finite availability of resources. Time spent dealing with alcohol-related injuries is time and attention taken away from other patients,” he said.
“There is overwhelming evidence that shows a direct correlation between extended trading hours and accessibility of alcohol, and an increase in alcohol-related assaults and other injuries. “The Government needs to ask, ‘what is more important?’ The health and welfare of residents, or lining the pockets of the alcohol industry?”
Media contact: Andrea Cornish 0419 402 955