Media release

AMA sets priorities for strong investment in the health system

Published 16 February 2011

AMA Federal Budget Submission 2011-12

Releasing the AMA Federal Budget Submission, AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that the Government should use this year’s Budget to make overdue significant investment in key areas of the health system.

Dr Pesce said that, even though economic and fiscal conditions are putting pressure on Commonwealth spending, there is no better investment that governments can make than in the health of the nation.

“While we have areas of excellence in our health system, we also have many areas where we should and could be doing a lot better,” Dr Pesce said.

“It requires commitment, targeted financial investment, and investment in the health workforce.

“The immediate priority for our public hospitals is to provide sufficient new hospital beds to allow hospitals to operate at an average bed occupancy rate of 85 per cent.

“This must be backed up by a Bedwatch monitoring system to report publicly on the number of new and existing beds available.

“More funding is needed for research and training in public hospitals, and doctors must be genuinely involved in hospital decision-making at the local level.”

Dr Pesce said that the Government must use the Budget to restore its credibility in mental health and to provide evidence that mental health is a second-term priority.

“There is significant unmet need in mental health care and major gaps in service provision that must be addressed.

“The AMA calls on the Government to provide $5 billion over four years to expand health and social support services to ensure that all people with mental illness are properly supported.

“Similarly, the Government must invest heavily in another neglected area of the health system – medical care for older Australians, including those in aged care.

“A minimum of $150 million a year is needed to increase patient rebates for complex and lengthy services provided to older people with chronic medical and dementia conditions in aged care facilities and in the community.

“A specific aged care accreditation standard for medical care must be introduced to ensure that access to medical care is monitored and scrutinised under aged care accreditation arrangements like other important quality, service, and care arrangements.”

Dr Pesce said that the biggest failure in our health system remains the very poor health status of Australia’s Indigenous peoples.

“The AMA wants the Government to develop and implement in partnership with Indigenous people a long-term national strategic plan, with tangible immediate goals and sufficient funding, to improve the health of Indigenous people.

“This will involve an expansion of the Indigenous health workforce, funding to assist NGOs and community groups with health-related capacity building in Indigenous communities, and measures to address the effects of the social determinants of poor health outcomes for Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders.”

The AMA also wants the Government to show its support for general practice in the Budget.

“With a lack of detail about the proposed Medicare Locals and the role of GPs within them, the Government must show it will genuinely support GPs and their leadership role in primary care.

“New after-hours and practice nurse funding arrangements must not disadvantage any general practice currently providing after-hours or practice nurse services or deter them from continuing to provide these services for their patients.

“GPs should also be supported in caring for their patients with appropriate access to the best available diagnostic tests. This requires the Government to introduce patient rebates for patients for MRI scans when patients are referred by a GP where clinically appropriate, and patient rebates for Point-of-Care Testing undertaken by GPs.”

Dr Pesce said that the AMA is fully aware of the demands on the Federal Budget from global economic pressures and the massive recovery and reconstruction programs following floods and fires and cyclones.

“But we believe strongly that spending on health is an investment that will underpin the rebuilding and restoration of productivity, cohesion and confidence in the Australian population,” Dr Pesce said.

The AMA Federal Budget Submission 2011-12, which is available on the AMA website at http://ama.com.au/budget2011, covers the following areas: