Australian Medical Association

The AMA submission to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons highlights that: urgency categories should facilitate patients being prioritised for surgery fairly and equitably; category definitions should take account of all the factors relevant to a patient's requirement for surgery; the primary driver for surgeons to categorise elective surgery will always be clinical urgency; and elective surgery waiting time should be counted from the time the patient is referred by a general practitioner to a surgeon for assessment until the time surgery is performed.

The AMA's submission to the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority on a pricing framework for public hospital services calls for hospital services to be funded on the basis of an 'effective' rather than an 'efficient' price. An effective price is one that provides sustainable and equitable access to high quality hospital services. The submission details the AMA's support for appropriate funding of post-hospital care; investment in teaching, training and research; and small and medium sized hospitals.

The AMA Public Hospital Report Card 2011 has found that there has been little improvement in public hospital capacity and performance across Australia in 2009-10, despite extra Commonwealth funding.

It has been very much business as usual as public hospitals struggle to meet demand.

The AMA's submission to the Senate Finance and Public Administration Committee on the National Health Reform Amendment (Independent Hospital Pricing Authority) Bill 2011 highlights the importance of the Pricing Authority, the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, and the National Health Performance Authority collaborating on their roles and responsibilities, for example, on data collection requirements.

It also points out that the Pricing Authority should consider the standards set by the Performance Authority when calculating the national 'efficient' price, that is, it must take into account the performance that must be achieved. In addition, the National Health Reform Agreement allows states to pay hospitals less than the determined efficient price, therefore, we recommend that the actual payments made to hospitals are reported to Parliament so that it is clear when poor performance is linked to insufficient funding.

Overall the Bill before Parliament responds to the AMA's lobbying last year to ensure the Pricing Authority considers the range of variables affecting the actual costs of providing health care services when calculating the national efficient price. However we recommend that the Authority is explicitly required to ensure hospitals can fulfil their teaching and research obligations.

The AMA submission to the Department of Health and Ageing on the draft Performance and Accountability Framework which will be used by the National Health Performance Authority urges the Government to undertake a proper consultation process on the performance indicators proposed in the Framework beyond the State and Territory governments.

On 2 August 2011, the Commonwealth, State and Territory governments finalised the National Health Reform Agreement. A summary of the Agreement's key points can be found here.

Transcript: Media Doorstop

                Rydges South Bank Hotel, Brisbane

                Tuesday 2 August 2011

Subject: COAG National Health Reform Agreement

AMA President, Dr Steve Hambleton, said today that the AMA is pleased that health reform has been re-ignited with the signing of the National Health Reform Agreement by all the States and Territories.

Dr Hambleton said that the new funding and financing arrangements, coupled with the transparency and accountability measures, should ensure that every precious health dollar is spent on health care services.

“There was some compromise necessary to get everyone signed on to this agreement, but we now have a starting point to achieve genuine and much-needed health reform,” Dr Hambleton said.

The AMA made a submission in response to the National Health Reform Amendment (National Health Performance Authority) Bill that was referred to the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee for inquiry in May 2011. The AMA has argued for amendments to empower the new Authority to report on, and impose penalties for, data manipulation and to address other issues of concern including adequate consultation with medical practitioners. The Authority will report on the performance of: local hospital networks; public hospitals; private hospitals; primary healthcare organisations; and other bodies or organisations that provide health care services.

The AMA made a submission in response to the National Health Reform Amendment (National Health Performance Authority) Bill that was tabled in Parliament on 3rd March 2011 and referred to the House of Reps Standing Committee on Health and Ageing for inquiry. Amendments were sought to empower the new Authority to report on, and impose penalties for, data manipulation and to address other issues of concern including adequate consultation with medical practitioners. The Authority will report on the performance of: local hospital networks; public hospitals; private hospitals; primary healthcare organisations; and other bodies or organisations that provide health care services.