HEALTH SPARED BIG CUTS – IN FEDERAL BUDGET
The AMA is relieved that the health budget was spared from major cuts and that the Government kept faith with the community over its election promises. AMA President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, said the AMA was pleased to see the health budget had been reasonably protected from major cuts in the context of the economic circumstances facing the country.
“Our major concern is always to see that patient care is not undermined and that quality health care is at the forefront of any budget measures,” Dr Capolingua said. “Many of the health commitments reflect what the AMA has been calling for. For example, Indigenous health, public hospital support, fighting cancer initiatives and other preventative measures.
“The AMA will work to ensure that these commitments will deliver to Australians the highest quality of health care.
“In that context, the AMA wants to see an accelerated emphasis on future medical specialist training places; compensation measures provided if the fall-out from private health insurance increases demand on public hospitals; and an increase in the patient Medicare rebate to compensate for inflation of health care costs.”
GENERAL PRACTICE AND THE FEDERAL BUDGET
The Budget took the razor to a number of GP programs. The Government has decided to abolish the highly successful incentives for immunisation paid through the Service Incentive Program. Grants for after-hours services have been rationalised so that funding will no longer be available to help establish new facilities. Funding to support e-health has also been cut.
The Budget also cut funding for the pre-vocational GP training program, which is designed to give young doctors an early taste of general practice and encourage them to consider it as a long-term career option.
The major GP policy initiative in the Budget was the confirmation of funding tor the Government’s rollout of GP Super Clinics. The Budget also included some funding for limited GP MRI referral, but this is dependent on final approval from the Minister for Health and Ageing.
The AMA will release a more detailed analysis on what the Budget means for GPs next week.
USE HEALTH FUND TO BUILD MEDICAL TRAINING
The AMA has called on the Rudd Government to allocate some of the investment returns from the $10 billion Health and Hospitals Fund announced in the Budget to fund medical training in places across the country.
To address doctor shortages, Australia has embarked on the most significant expansion of medical school places in history. By 2012, the number of medical school graduates will be around 3,000 per annum. This compared with 1,586 last year.
“Australia welcomes the breaking of the doctor drought but we need to increase our capacity to train all these new doctors,” Dr Capolingua said. “We will need more training opportunities across the public and private sector and in General Practice, with more senior doctors supervising and teaching, more infrastructure and more facilities.”
The AMA believes this Budget should have been used to start building up the resources needed to train all of the medical students and graduates that will be entering the system in the coming years
“With the money now allocated in the Health and Hospitals Fund, governments should move with a sense of urgency to instigate the training places and fund the training capabilities of hospitals and General Practice to ensure Australians will receive the full benefit of the increased number of highly-trained doctors who will provide high-quality health services,” Dr Capolingua said.
Click here then under Breaking Issues to see the AMA response to Budget press releases.