Australian Medical Association

Dr Hambleton discusses the AMA Public Hospital Report Card 2011 and says that despite extra funding the health system is getting worse.

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.

There was little improvement in public hospital capacity and performance across Australia in 2009-10, despite extra Commonwealth funding, according to the AMA Public Hospital Report Card 2011, released today.

AMA President, Dr Steve Hambleton, said that public hospital performance in every State and Territory is well below targets for access to emergency departments and elective surgery set by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG).

AMA Public Hospital Report Card 2010 - AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that there had been little improvement in public hospital capacity and performance despite significant extra Commonwealth funding as part of the National Healthcare Agreement and specific funding for an elective surgery ‘blitz’.

The AMA Public Hospital Report Card 2010 is an analysis of the most recent publicly available national data on public hospital performance plus more recent feedback from doctors working in public hospitals in all States and Territories.

The AMA Public Hospital Report Card 2010 is an analysis of the most recent publicly available national data on public hospital performance plus more recent feedback from doctors working in public hospitals in all States and Territories.

There has been little improvement in public hospital capacity and performance despite significant extra Commonwealth funding as part of the National Healthcare Agreement and specific funding for an elective surgery ‘blitz’.

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, will today, Thursday 18 November, release the AMA Public Hospital Report Card 2010.

AMA Victoria President, Dr Harry Hemley, will also be available to comment on the Victorian public hospital situation.

AMA Doorstop:

Time: 11.30am (Melbourne time)

Date: Today, Thursday 18 November 2010

Venue:             
AMA House (Victoria)
293 Royal Parade
PARKVILLE

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, today said it was vital that Australia had strong, highly performing, public and private hospital systems, after the Productivity Commission released a draft discussion document comparing the two systems.

Dr Pesce said the Commission had highlighted the immense difficulty and statistical challenges of comparing the performance and costs of public and private hospitals.   

“Hospital systems are complex but we need both public and private hospitals working well to support our Australian health system,” Dr Pesce said.

“Unfortunately the AMA Public Hospital Report Card 2009, which was released yesterday, shows that public hospitals are under-funded and failing to meet key performance targets, and growing demand for their services.

Sydney Wednesday 14 October 2009

DR PESCE:  Well, thanks for coming. Well, here we go again. This is the first time I'm delivering this report card as the AMA President. But every year the AMA President gets here, delivers the Public Hospital Report Card, and every year the message is the same: things are getting worse.

The governments aren't up to the task of improving the ability of our public hospitals to meet the demands. And our report card shows that once again things are slowly getting worse. Every year governments meet, they have their agreements, but every year things get worse.

Our report card shows objectively that slowly things are deteriorating. Access in emergency departments is worse. Waiting times for elective surgery are worse. On all measures, public hospitals are gradually getting worse.

The AMA Public Hospital Report Card 2009 is an analysis of the most up-to-date national data on public hospital performance plus more recent feedback from doctors working in public hospitals in all States and Territories.

It shows that Australia’s public hospitals continue to be seriously under-funded and are struggling to meet growing public demand for their services.

People still experience excessive waits in emergency departments and excessive waits for admission to a hospital bed. Waiting times for elective surgery have been getting longer.

AMA Public Hospital Report Card 2009

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that Australia’s public hospitals continue to be seriously under-funded and are struggling to meet growing public demand for their services.

The AMA Public Hospital Report Card 2009 is an analysis of the most up-to-date national data on public hospital performance plus more recent feedback from doctors working in public hospitals in all States and Territories – and the results aren’t good.

Dr Pesce said the report shows that the public hospital system is continuing to decline and, despite the best efforts of a dedicated and hardworking health workforce, quality and safety are being put to the test.