Changes for Australia’s health system

THE Federal Government has announced the biggest change to Australia’s health and hospital system since the introduction of Medicare.

Federal Member for Oxley, Bernie Ripoll, last week visited Inala Primary Care to meet with CEO Cathy Brown and discuss the new reforms with staff and patients.

Mr Ripoll said the government would deliver better health services and better hospitals by establishing a National Health and Hospitals Network.

“These reforms represent the biggest changes to Australia’s health and hospital system since the introduction of Medicare,” he said.

“If the states and territories do not agree to these reforms, the government will take its plan to the people to get a mandate for these important changes, to give the government the ability to accept full funding responsibility for the entire health and hospitals system in the future.”

During the coming weeks and months, the Federal Government will make further announcements about important investments in more doctors and nurses, increasing the availability of hospital beds, improving GP services, and about introducing personally-controlled electronic health records.

“Local residents have consistently told me how important it was for the blame game to be over and for us to get on with the job of improving the health system,” Mr Ripoll said.

“The establishment of the National Health and Hospitals Network builds on record investments in health and hospitals made by the Federal Government over the last two years, including a 50 per cent increase in hospital funding, increasing GP training places by 35 per cent and training more nurses.

“The Federal Government’s action stands in contrast to the Liberals who ripped $1 billion from our hospital system when they were in Government, capped GP training places and ignored the shortage of nurses in our community.”

Reform includes:

1. A National Network: to bring together eight State run systems with one set of tough national standards to deliver better hospital services.

2. Funded nationally: with the Australian Government taking on the dominant funding responsibility for the hospital system - ending the blame game, eliminating waste and shouldering the burden of funding to meet rapidly rising health costs.

3. Run locally: through Local Hospital Networks which will bring together small groups of hospitals, where local professionals with local knowledge are given the necessary powers to deliver hospital services to our community.

These changes will be achieved by the Commonwealth taking the following actions:

• Taking 60 per cent of funding responsibility for public hospitals;

• Taking over full responsibility for GP and primary health care services;

• Establish Local Hospital Networks run by health and financial professionals to be responsible for running their local hospitals, rather than central bureaucracies;

• Paying Local Hospital Networks directly for each hospital service they deliver, rather than just handing over block funding grants to the states; and

• Bringing fragmented health and hospital services together under a single National Health and Hospitals Network, through strong transparent national reporting.

These reforms are being put to the States and Territories for their agreement at the COAG meeting to be held on April 11.