Dr Kerryn Phelps, AMA President
QUESTION: What was your rating of the debate today?
PHELPS: I think that there was disappointment for me in both of the policies as they were articulated. I was disappointed in the Coalition's policy because it lacks anything for public hospitals, it lacks anything for aged care, there were no, I don't believe there was anything much there for general practice, and I think there was a general lack of vision. In terms of the ALP policy - well articulated and I think that it is targeted, but once again I think that there is a shortage in terms of the amount of money available, the $545 million that has been announced. Most of it doesn't come in until the fourth year - very little in the first year, and we are not going to be able to fix the problem in our health system to the satisfaction of the patients of this country without putting a substantial commitment of funding into the health system.
QUESTION: There has been a focus on doctors and nurses in the workforce, the shortage of them this morning. Do you think that was addressed adequately?
PHELPS: I think it's very important that we address the workforce issues. For too long we've been having statistics thrown at us saying that there is an oversupply of GPs, yet everywhere I go in Australia the message is that there is an undersupply. So it was a welcome acknowledgment from the Minister today to finally say that there is undersupply, not only in rural areas which incidentally has not been fixed, but also in urban areas. We are seeing a general GP shortage, and that is putting a great deal of extra stress on the general practice workforce. We are also seeing a drain of talent away from the public system into the private system of highly trained specialists who are just giving up on the conditions in the public hospitals. To say that we've done enough for public hospitals is simply ignoring reality.
QUESTION: Do you think there is too much emphasis on health funding and not health outcomes? Do you agree with those general principles?
PHELPS: You can't get outcomes without funding, and all the way along, the debate, from the AMA's point of view, from the medical profession's point of view, we have stressed the importance of outcomes for patients. Some of these outcomes will be whether a patient has to wait for years for a joint replacement surgery, whether they have to wait undue lengths of time for other forms of elective surgery, what their rehabilitation services are like - these to us are also outcomes, and we also have a bit of a concern about the trend towards specific disease management, rather than management of the whole patient in the context of who they are.
QUESTION: You speak of doctors. I think I'm right in saying that in this election campaign the only party that has a policy for more GPs in outer urban areas is the Coalition. Doesn't that mean the AMA should be supporting their health policy?
PHELPS: We're looking at it issue by issue, and when we've seen all of the health policies fully costed we will be making a report card available, which will be a check list of the issues, so that people can make up their own minds, based on what their priorities are. In terms of answers, in terms of doctors, we certainly have seen a lot more from the Coalition than we have from the ALP on this issue. I believe that more policy will be coming forth on that and I look forward to hearing that. And by the time the election rolls around we will be able to compare policy for policy between the major parties.
QUESTION: Dr Phelps, Dr Wooldridge says that public hospitals are not in crisis at the moment. It would seem one hospital built a picket fence between wards, because it couldn't afford a … … this morning. I mean what do you say to that?
PHELPS: Anyone who says that there is not a crisis in our public hospitals has not walked in to a public hospital lately. If you happen to be somebody who works in a public hospital, if you're a doctor, if you're a nurse, if you're a patient trying to get a bed in a public hospital, you'll know there is a crisis, and I think that if you try and pull the wool over people's eyes it doesn't take long for people to realise where the truth lies.
Thank you all.
Ends