RUDD MUST INVEST IN HEALTH
Health must be spared the axe in the Rudd Government’s first Budget, AMA President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, said this week.
The Government’s measures to rein in inflationary spending must take into account the increased needs that are evident in health, Dr Capolingua said.
“Investment in health is a an investment in the future of the nation. All Australian must be able to access the health care they need, when they need it. We have work to do to improve what we have and it will take further government investment.”
Government must provide enough post-graduate training placements to guarantee the delivery of Australian trained doctors into the workforce of tomorrow, must ensure that Medicare rebates keep pace with the rising costs of health care, and they must substantially and immediately increase targeted health spending to close the life expectancy gap for Indigenous Australians.
The AMA has also been lobbying to put GP MRI referral back on the Government’s agenda. Plans to allow limited GP MRI referral were put on hold late last year and it is hoped that the 2008-09 Budget will include funding to allowing this sensible initiative to proceed.
Click here for the full press release and to the access the AMA Federal Budget Submission 2008-09.
TIME FOR ACTION ON RURAL HEALTH
The AMA has welcomed the release of the Federal Government’s Audit of Health Workforce in Rural and Regional Australia but said the report was always expected to paint a dire picture of workforce shortages.
AMA President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua said that there had been numerous reports on the state of rural health and what was needed now was action. “We need the upcoming Federal Budget to inject around $400 million a year into incentives that get doctors into the bush.” “We need to stop fiddling at the edges and give rural and regional Australians the investment in health services they deserve.”
Last year the AMA and the Rural Doctors Association of Australia jointly proposed a rural rescue package to get more doctors working in the bush.
Click here for the AMA press release on this issue.
THE COLD, HARD TRUTH ABOUT ‘ICE’ AND ‘SPEED’
Methamphetamine users are being put in the too-hard basket and the AMA is calling for an overhaul of the health system to deal with this difficult problem.
AMA President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua this week released the AMA Position Statement on Methamphetamine, saying methamphetamine users who were often aggressive or in psychotic state were ending up in emergency wards or in police custody. Emergency department staffs were increasingly being placed in harm’s way when it came to methamphetamine users, Dr Capolingua said.
The AMA is calling for all emergency departments to have a specialist drugs liaison officer to engage and support methamphetamine and other drug users. The AMA is also calling for: a renewed, comprehensive and sustained public education program on the social and health consequences of methamphetamine use; a sustained investment in the GP training on how to engage drug users for lifestyle change; and more generic programs, such as Life Skills, which are aimed at young people.
Click here to view more of the AMA press release and the position statement on methamphetamine.