AMA president launches hospital report card in SA and Tas

On his first trip outside WA since its border reopened, AMA President Dr Omar Khorshid visited Adelaide and Launceston this week to launch the South Australian and Tasmanian chapters of the 2022 Public Hospital Report Card, alongside state AMA leaders.

After morning radio appearances on ABC and 5AA in Adelaide, Dr Khorshid gave a press conference with AMA SA State President Dr Michelle Atchison which was attended by the state’s health minister Stephen Wade and Opposition Leader, Peter Malinauskas.

With South Australians voting in a state election this weekend, both sides of government acknowledged health was a major issue for voters and made commitments on health spending.

Dr Khorshid said public hospital performance was declining across the country but South Australia languished below the national average for the measures in the AMA Report Card, that is, ED wait times, elective surgery, bed capacity and funding.

He also outlined the AMA’s hospital funding solution which would see a 50-50 share of funding from state and federal governments, which presently contribute 55 and 45 per cent respectively.

“One of the reasons I’m here today in South Australia is to ask both sides of politics, as they head into the election, for a commitment that if the Commonwealth is able to increase its contribution to healthcare, that the state will not decrease its contribution to match it,” Dr Khorshid said.

Minister Wade said the Marshall Liberal government supported the AMA’s call for 50-50 funding.

“As Health Minister, I was the Chair of the Health Minister’s meeting, which actually called for that last year. So we're happy to reiterate our commitment to calling on the Commonwealth government to increase its share of investment in public hospitals. We're also happy to give today our commitment that if that increase is made by the Commonwealth government that we will maintain our effort,” he said.

The Opposition leader said rather than spending $700 million on a basketball stadium, as promised by the Liberals, a Malinauskas government would invest the money in health.

“We will not proceed with the basketball stadium. We'll invest all that money in health with a plan to fix the ramping crisis. Our hospital system desperately needs more capacity, plain and simple. Everything else is tinkering around at the edges. That's why my plan is for 300 additional hospital beds, 300 extra nurses, 100 extra doctors and 350 extra ambulance officers – the single biggest investment in mental health in our state in a generation,” Mr Malinauskas said.

In Tasmania, Dr Khorshid spoke to the media outside the Launceston General Hospital flanked by AMA Tas state council chair, Dr Glenn Richardson, and Launceston GP Dr Jerome Muir-Wilson.

Dr Richardson, a GP for over 38 years in Launceston said the local population was growing faster than hospital capacity and the system was always two or three steps behind.

Later Dr Khorshid spoke with both the member for Bass, Bridget Archer and met with ALP candidate for Bass, Ross Hart seeking similar commitments on hospital and health funding.

The AMA is currently running its “clear the hospital logjam campaign” to secure a new hospital funding agreement and energise voters about the issue.