Interview - Dr Bill Glasson, AMA President, Channel 7 Sunrise - Public hospital system; Medicare; Commonwealth/State Health Agreements
COMPERE DOYLE: Now we're going to shift focus completely. About our hospitals out there, hospitals and health is an issue that we've had on the Ros Wall for quite some time. It's one of those things that just obviously is not going to be fixed overnight.
And now we're hearing there's so much more bickering going on between the State Governments and the Federal Government which is just not what you want on this issue.
COMPERE KOCH: It is driving us wild here. It is driving you wild. We get so many emails from you saying when are the politicians going to stop arguing and actually fix up the health system and particularly our hospitals.
Dr Bill Glasson is president of the Australian Medical Association. Good morning to you, Bill.
We've had the politicians at it again this week. Did anything get resolved from it?
GLASSON: Not really, David, Mel. Unfortunately it was a lot of talk and of course the argy bargy that's going on now is who's going to move first as far as accepting this current health care agreement. There's a recommendation that they sign off for a year and then try and get some reform process in place.
But reality is that there's another election in 12 months time. I can't see the Commonwealth actually accepting the States signing only for a year. And really I keep saying, it's a bit like our children, if our children behave like this, we'd lock them up in a room and say sort it out and come out when you can behave properly.
And this is what's been going on between the Commonwealth and States. As you say, the public out there have had a - they've really have had a gutful of it. And so I ask politicians on both the State and the Federal levels, for goodness sake show some leadership and show some responsibility.
There is a problem in the health system. We know that. It's been identified over and over again and it relates obviously to chronic underfunding of the public hospital system; chronic underfunding of Medicare. This silly business of Commonwealth-State divide and the costs - I think it costs us about a billion dollars in lost income that doesn't get to the clinical coalface. So it is a real, real issue that we've got to address constructively.
I think the Commonwealth has to come back and say...
COMPERE KOCH: Bill, when you were on the show a little while ago, you pointed to this meeting this week as a really crucial meeting, one that you hoped this would be sorted out. At the end of the week it hasn't been sorted out. Who do we blame? Who do you blame? Is it the Feds being unreasonable or is it the States?
DR GLASSON: No, David, I think at the end of the day both have equal responsibility and the reality is in this time of the cycle, the cycle in relation to this funding, both sides get in the boxing ring and try and sort of have it out. Unfortunately, it is so immature, as I say. There is a problem. Our public hospital system is under a huge amount of strain. We've got workforce problems out there like you wouldn't believe. We've got indemnity crisis that's destroying the medical profession.
Yet while, you know while Rome's burning, the politicians are sitting around arguing. And I really want some leadership, particularly out of the Commonwealth, to set a reform agenda that they can say to the States, here's the agenda; this is the timeframe it will occur; then the States may sign off. But the States are reluctant to sign off on a five-year agreement when they figure in five years time we're going to come back to the same ridiculous scenario where we simply argue across the table.
Let's look at what the health needs of this community are. Let's look at the resources we have to address those needs and see if we can come up with some maturer approach to trying to get a constructive outcome for the public and the patients of Australia.
COMPERE DOYLE: Yes, less hot air, more nuts and bolts. We ought to also ask you, as you know, we've been trying to organise a bit of a Sunrise Summit on this, getting our Federal Minister and some of our State Ministers together and talking about it. We sort of haven't had quite as much luck yet as we were hoping. We've had some State Ministers say they're interested and others are sort of getting back to us.
Would you be involved in that for us, when we get it happening?
DR GLASSON: Mel, we'd love to. The AMA would love to be involved. The AMA would love to drive this agenda, and I think we're probably the ideal organisation to sit in an impartial position with the likes of yourselves because we do need the media behind us to try and, I suppose, put some pressure on both sides of government to sit down constructively and come up with an outcome so that you and I, when we sit in our rocking chair, do have a health system that actually is still viable; we have a workforce, in fact that's still there, and hope that at that stage we've solved the indemnity crisis as well.
COMPERE KOCH: Okay. All right, Bill, we'll continue to pursue that. We had some success with superannuation in getting all the politicians together and try to knock some heads together. We'll see if we can do it with the health system and we'll...
COMPERE DOYLE: We'll keep trying.
COMPERE KOCH: We'll set a date and, if they don't turn up, we'll just embarrass them by...
DR GLASSON: Absolutely.
COMPERE KOCH: Because I think we've all had a gutful of it, particularly if you have got someone sick in hospital or you've got your kids going to hospital. You know how appalling the situation is. We will try and do something. Bill, thanks again for joining us.
DR GLASSON: Thanks, David. Thanks, Mel.
COMPERE KOCH: ...from the Medical Association. It really is such a frustrating issue, isn't it?
COMPERE DOYLE: Oh yes.
COMPERE KOCH: And particularly if you've got people going to hospital, and you know, you'll be going there soon too. We've got to fix it up before you get there.
COMPERE DOYLE: Thank you, that would be really nice.
Ends