Transcript - ABC '7.30 Report' - Is there a health care crisis in Australia?

But, like it or not, any debate on health care sooner or later comes back to public hospitals and Labor's running hard on it.

ALP ADVERTISEMENT: Real Australians Talk about John Howard's health system -- "A sickly state of health" -- 'Courier Mail', 25/08/01.

MARIA PETROVIC: I fell victim to the health system as it is today.

"Health, Medicare in crisis: AMA" -- The 'Canberra Times', 6/07/00.

MARK BANNERMAN: Who, though, is to blame for this so-called crisis?

We took a detailed look at one case cited by Labor.

Like many other Australians, Maria Petrovic values her health and does all she can to maintain it.

She has private health insurance too but, six months ago, an encounter with the public hospital system very nearly killed her.

Visiting her sister in Sydney, she began to experience severe stomach pains.

So you went to the doctor and what did he say to you?

MARIA PETROVIC: Well that was the very first doctor.

He said to me, "Well, you need to go to a hospital."

MARK BANNERMAN: It was as straightforward as that?

MARIA PETROVIC: Yeah.

MARK BANNERMAN: He was in no doubt that those stomach pains meant something serious?

MARIA PETROVIC: Yeah, yeah.

MARK BANNERMAN: In fact, Maria's doctor was so concerned about her condition, he rang St George Public Hospital and wrote a note asking them to admit her.

So, when you arrived at the hospital with that note from your doctor, what was their response to you?

MARIA PETROVIC: Take a seat and wait.

MARK BANNERMAN: And wait she did, by her calculations nearly seven hours, due to what the hospital later said was an extraordinarily high patient load.

Finally, though, the doctors diagnosed a urinary tract infection.

They told her to go home.

MARIA PETROVIC: I said, "I can't move."

I found it very difficult walking to the front door of the hospital even when they told me that I could go.

I actually had to get my sister to bring the car round, 'cause I couldn't walk to the car.

MARK BANNERMAN: Dazed by pain, she decided to drive to her home on the Central Coast of NSW.

Feeling worse by the hour, she went again to a doctor, who quickly diagnosed the real problem -- an acute appendicitis.

Again, Maria was told to go immediately to a public hospital.

This should have been the end of the story, but unfortunately it was not.

Although Maria carried a letter from her doctor, saying her condition was life-threatening, the hospital staff told her there was not a bed available and, even if they found a bed, they said it was unlikely they could operate within 10 to 12 hours.

Desperate and realising now she was in real danger, staff at Gosford rang a local private hospital.

They were able to operate immediately.

It's clear that this has left a very deep sense of hurt in you?

MARIA PETROVIC: Yeah, it was very hurtful, 'cause you're trying to get someone to see you and nobody wants to listen.

MARK BANNERMAN: So what are the lessons in Maria's case?

Obviously, no Health Minister can take responsibility for a misdiagnosis, and it must be said the Government can take heart knowing private health insurance may have ultimately saved her life.

But, on the other side of the ledger, it's clear her case is not entirely isolated.

Statistics show that, in NSW, of 51 hospitals surveyed, 41 failed to treat patients within the accepted time limits.

Could more money be the answer?

We put that question to the AMA president, Kerryn Phelps.

DR KERRYN PHELPS, AMA FEDERAL PRESIDENT: There's no getting away from the reality that our hospitals are short of cash.

If you look at the Senate's deliberations last year, they found that the hospitals needed an immediate injection of $900 million over the next two years, half to be shared by the Commonwealth, half by the States.

MARK BANNERMAN: Taking their cue from that Senate report, 10 days ago, Labor announced $550 million over four years in spending, targeted at hospital emergency centres and elective surgery.

KIM BEAZLEY, OPPOSITION LEADER (OCTOBER 31): Just to be able to say that they'll get there quicker and to put down some practical evidence that that will be the case.

MARK BANNERMAN: The Government, on the other hand, when it came time to launch its campaign in an outer Melbourne suburb, chose to stand on its record, pointing out it's already delivered a $7-billion increase over five years for the States to use in public hospitals.

That comes on top of a $2-billion subsidy to promote the use of private health insurance, a move insurers say is working.

RUSSELL SCHNEIDER, AUSTRALIAN PRIVATE HEALTH CARE FUNDS: Without any doubt, there were 300,000 extra patients using their private insurance last year in private hospitals.

Now that's 300,000 fewer people who went to public hospitals and, next year, in fact, we expect about 700,000 more patients will go into private hospitals rather than public.

That's got to take a lot of the strain.

MARK BANNERMAN: Of course, there is another irony to this debate over hospital funding.

In large measure, it's overwhelmed an issue that affects anyone who goes to a GP.

The doctors claim, for much of the last 10 years, consecutive governments have tried to hold down the value of the Medicare rebate.

DR KERRYN PHELPS: The impact of a neglected Medicare benefit schedule is that bulk billing rates are declining and patient gaps are increasing.

What we've seen is GPs finding it increasingly difficult to maintain the viability of their practices.

MARK BANNERMAN: The Government rejects this, claiming, in the last two years, it's increased the Medicare rebate by 14 per cent.

At the same time, the number of GPs bulk billing has actually fallen.

What's the answer to that?

DR KERRYN PHELPS: Well, it's very interesting that both of the major parties have dodged this issue at this election.

They're both saying, "No, we refuse to address the Medicare rebate issue, but we support bulk billing and we support Medicare."

It's a non sequitur -- one does not follow the other.

MARK BANNERMAN: Who do we believe then?

Well, one thing is clear.

If fewer doctors bulk bill, more and more people are likely to head for public hospital emergency wards, perpetuating what is already a vicious cycle.

Ends