In the days following, I reached out to the Directors of the Emergency Departments in Sydney who had received patients from the attack.
One of the most striking comments I heard was from one of the Directors, who noted that amid the terrible scenes there was a real sense of ‘This is what we trained for’. In fact, this was a recurrent theme across the departments – of everyone pulling together to make things work.
I felt very proud to be able to call them colleagues and was also hugely impressed by the debrief and support services that were locally available and already being deployed to staff at those sites in the immediate aftermath.
As we all know, sometimes people involved in these events may not need help and support until days, weeks or even months afterwards so I want to highlight the confidential and free counselling service that is available to all members and trainees of ACEM across both our nations – login to your member portal here to find out more and learn how to access it.
I am honoured to begin my term as ACEM President, having taken over from Dr Stephen Gourley at the end of November.
I’d like to personally thank Stephen for a superb term as President. I’ve learned a lot from him over the last couple of years and I’m very pleased to have him around as a friend and trusted advisor over the next 12 months and beyond. Getting the introduction of the core rural term for FACEM training across the line (commencing in 2027) is no small achievement and Stephen deserves a lot of credit for being one of the key drivers towards implementing this change
For those of you who don’t know me, I’m originally from Belfast in Northern Ireland, growing up during The Troubles and graduating from Queen’s University in 1997. I’ve been a full-time Consultant at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (‘Charlie’s’) in Perth since 2008, having ping-ponged back and forth to Australia three times as a junior doctor.
I served as the Director of Emergency Medicine (DEM) at Charlie’s from 2014 to 2025 and have been heavily involved in the College since 2013, serving on CAPP almost continuously since then. I’ve also served as the WA Faculty Chair during COVID, experiencing the steep learning curve that came with the College’s enhanced media profile during that time – skills I hope to continue to use as ACEM President.
I’m typing this sitting on Middleton Beach in Albany, on the south coast of WA, before heading in for an evening shift later today. I’ve worked here as a FIFO FACEM since 2010, usually doing 25+ days a year. It’s my second work home and I love the mix between tertiary and regional emergency medicine that it gives me. It also gives me skin in the game when it comes to the successful implementation of our core rural terms for trainees over the next couple of years. – it’s going to be a vital part of continuing to produce well-rounded emergency physicians in the years ahead.
I’m a passionate consumer of research. My kids have grown up listening to Emergency Medicine Abstracts in the car!
Research is bullet point 1.1.1 in the ACEM Constitution, and I want to make it a key focus of mine for the next two years. I will be advocating at a binational level to ensure that emergency medicine gets its fair share of research funding.
Did you know that we receive around 0.5 per cent of available research funding in Australia despite making up 11 per cent of patient encounters in our health system? This needs to change. We'd love to see more funding for acute care research, either through the establishment of a Binational Emergency Medicine Research Foundation (like the extremely successful Foundation already in place in Queensland) or via a regular, dedicate emergency medicine funding stream from the Medical Research Future Fund.
I’m excited about the work that’s been done looking at how to continuously improve our FACEM training program. It’s likely that the research requirement will change significantly soon and I want to work with our members and expert educationalists to make sure we are producing FACEMs with next-level critical appraisal skills.
Personally, my favourite thing about our job is the patient interactions, sitting with them and giving them the time and space to share their concerns.
This is what makes me so passionate about improving bed block and advocating for our patients and our members, who work so hard trying to help them in the face of increasing challenges. In general, overcrowding has worsened over the last few years across our two nations but there have been some pockets of improvement in the ACT, QLD and VIC.
I pledge to continue to build on the good work the College has done in this space. We have a seat at the table as trusted advisors to both national governments and at other jurisdictional levels. We are a trusted voice in the media and trusted by the public. It’s important to remain trusted advisors, but also to publicly represent our patients and members and not be afraid to speak truth to power.
There’s been a large spike in member involvement in the College over the past few years and I encourage all members to consider joining College entities and have their say – you will gain so much, tapping into other people’s wisdom while also making some great friends along the way. Our networks and committees are doing amazing work that we should be very proud of. Our website is getting a massive overhaul over the next year or so that we hope will turbo-charge our networks as thriving communities of practice.
I learned so much working with people from our Geriatric Emergency Medicine Network as Chair of the ACEM Preparedness for Population Ageing Working Group. The recently published Statement of Commitment on Emergency Medicine Preparedness for Population Ageing warns that health systems are at a tipping point, with ED presentations by older persons across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand escalating significantly. It is an excellent document. A demographic tsunami is coming, with the number of people aged over 85 conservatively predicted to increase by more than 500 per cent between 2010 and 2050. We need to get ready, and we need to get ready faster if we're to be advocating effectively for our communities.
The recent launch of ACEM’s report Still Waiting: Trends in Mental Health Presentations to Australian Emergency Departments during the ASM was very well received. Almost a decade after ACEM first called for urgent reform, ED time-based performance data shows further decline and revealed that EDs are often the only option for many people needing acute mental health care. We have yet to see the implementation of evidence-based recommendations but will continue to advocate for this community of patients as well.
Our College is growing rapidly and is hugely diverse - did you know we have just passed having 4000 active FACEMs for the first time? Nearly 50 per cent of us graduated from medical schools overseas and about 10 per cent of us, like me, completed our specialist training overseas. Check out the excellent interactive Member Demographics page on our website if you want to do a deeper dive.
I hope to do my best to represent everybody in the College. I will try to meet as many of you as I can throughout Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia to hear your concerns and learn from your experiences.
I’d like to begin the new year and my Presidency by thanking ACEM’s members, trainees, and SIMGs for the amazing work you do all day, every day to deliver high-quality emergency care to all the people who come through the ED’s doors.
My thanks also goes out to ACEM staff, whose hard work underpins our profession and its progress.
I’d like to extend my appreciation to our colleagues and partners across the broader health sector, from government representatives striving to improve complex systems, to health organisations committing to meaningful change, and to the media who thoughtfully raise awareness of the challenges facing emergency healthcare.
My heartfelt thanks go out to our friends, families, and whānau for their support and encouragement.
Thank you again for the dedication you show to emergency medicine and for the care you give to patients throughout Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia. In the coming year, the College will continue striving for a stronger, fairer health system and we will keep you informed on the progress. I encourage you to take part in any way you can.