COAG and Health: When in Doubt, Have Another Review
AMA President, Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, said today that the AMA questions the point of having a bureaucrat level review of the health system at a time when reform needs to be led by senior Ministers and clinicians working together.
Dr Haikerwal said the AMA remains sceptical following today's announcement, given the failure of Governments to act on previous review processes.
"Although a specific list of tasks for review has been announced, we can rightly be pessimistic because there is no new funding attached to the review process or to any possible outcomes of the review.
"We have no dispute with the areas being looked at, but they are hardly news.
"These priorities have been spelt out on numerous occasions before, so why another review?
Dr Haikerwal said that the AMA is very mindful of the failure of the Federal Government to act on the national health reform agenda that was endorsed in principle by the Australian Health Ministers' Conference on 27 September 2002.
"A lot of hard work went into that agenda through the stakeholder reference groups - of which the AMA was a part," Dr Haikerwal said.
"When the Government allowed the reform implementation plan to fall through the cracks, a lot of goodwill went with it.
"Why would Governments want to waste what's left of our good faith on yet another bureaucratic review.
"The health system needs action and reform, not more talkfests for Health Department officials."