Peak Groups Call on Health Ministers to Come up with the Goods
Catholic Health Australia (CHA), the Australian Healthcare Association (AHA), and the Australian Medical Association (AMA) have joined forces in the lead up to this week's health minister's meeting in Perth, calling on delegates to empty the too hard basket by the end of the meeting.
In a joint statement released today, Dr Bill Glasson, Federal President of the AMA, Francis Sullivan, CEO of CHA, and Prue Power, Executive Director of AHA, said the health ministers will fail the Australian people if they can't see their way to addressing these issues.
The Federal Government must increase its public hospital funding offer. The current offer of $42 billion over 5 years is almost $1 billion less than was announced in the forward estimates. This offer is mean and shortsighted. The Government really needs to get its priorities in order.
If hospital admissions increase, even by a small margin, these funds will fall seriously short of meeting demand.
The States must likewise commit to specific funding and indexation. This would provide very real increases and give hospitals some certainty about their long term funding.
Official figures indicated that the States have lowered their share of public hospital expenditure from just over 50 per cent to 47.5 per cent between 1996-7 and 2000-01.
They can't complain about the Federal Government's offer if they are not prepared to match it.
Both groups called for an implementation plan for the reform agenda with significant involvement from the people charged with providing the service and those who use the services.
A reform agenda was endorsed in principle by the Australian Health Ministers' Conference (AHMC) on 27 September last year.
The communique from this meeting stressed the importance of a number of issues.
1. Improving the interface between hospitals and primary and aged care services;
2. Achieving continuity between primary, community, acute, sub-acute, transition and aged care, while promoting consumer choice and improved responsiveness. Initial priorities for a stronger continuum of care approach will be cancer care and mental health services;
3. Establishing a single, national system for pharmaceuticals.
There has never been an implementation plan. The reform agenda is not locked in to the Australian Health Care Agreements. The implementation plan must also include strong provider/consumer involvement.
If these issues can't be resolved in the time available, the AMA and CHA call on the governments to come up with an interim agreement, where each state agrees to spend specified funds, until the full agreement can be worked out.
CHA represents the interests of 58 public and private hospitals nationally.
The AMA speaks on behalf of over 28,000 doctors nationally.
The AHA is the peak industry group representing the public hospital and health care system.
CONTACT:
Francis Sullivan, CHA, (02) 6260 5980 / (0408) 486 440
Prue Power, AHA, (02) 6285 1488 / (0417) 419 857
Dr Bill Glasson, AMA call Judith Tokley (02) 6270 5471 / (0408) 824 306