Solution for public hospital reform

The current funding model for our health system is not working. It’s only focused on the number of procedures that hospitals provide.

It doesn’t adequately account for the fact Australia’s population is growing, ageing, and developing more complex health needs. It doesn’t provide the capacity we need.

Nor does it provide enough funding to keep people out of hospital through preventative and community care.

The four points of the AMA plan are:

  1. Improve performance

    Reintroduce funding for performance improvement — for example, improvement in elective surgery and emergency department waiting times — to reverse the decline in public hospital performance.

  2. Expand capacity

    Give public hospitals additional funding for extra beds (along with the staff) and support them to expand capacity to meet community demand, surge when required, improve treatment times, and put an end to ambulance ramping.

  3. Addressing demand for out-of-hospital alternatives

    Fund alternatives for out-of-hospital care so those whose needs can be better met in the community can be treated outside hospital. Programs that work with general practitioners to address avoidable admissions and readmissions should be prioritised.

  4. Increase matched funding in the new hospital agreement

    Funding Australia’s hospitals is a partnership between federal, states and territory governments. Both sides need to contribute funding, together, if hospitals are to not just survive, but improve.

    The AMA’s detailed model highlights the amount of funding needed to address the pent-up demand in the community and expand to be able to meet the country’s needs.

    It outlines the need to increase the federal government’s contribution to the levels the AMA originally projected, to ‘catch-up’ demand, by providing an additional $12.5 billion between 2025–26 and 2028–29.

    In addition, the AMA is calling for the states and territories to increase funding by $15.3 billion between 2025–2026 and 2028–29 alongside the federal government to address the pent-up hospital demand. It is crucial the federal, state and territory governments all increase funding to ensure funds are available to improve capacity and performance.