The Australian Medical Association (AMA), Catholic Health Australia (CHA) the Australian Healthcare Association (AHA), the Australian Salaried Medical Officers' Federation (ASMOF), the Australian Nursing Federation (ANF), the Royal College of Nursing, Australia (RCNA), the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM), and the Australian Society for Geriatric Medicine (ASGM) want to see greater cooperation between the Commonwealth and the States and Territories to deliver better public hospital services to Australian communities and patients.

The groups say the Government and the Opposition must acknowledge that access block is hampering patient access to timely quality care in public hospitals, and national cooperation and vision is needed to solve it.  It will require additional funding from the Federal Government, matched dollar for dollar by the States and Territories.

But the groups say it is more than simply providing the additional funds - a coordinated plan is needed to ensure that patients are in the right environment with the right care for their condition or ailment.  Reform is needed to improve the links between the acute care sector and the sub acute sector, and between the acute, community, residential, aged care and primary care sectors.

The groups today call on the Government and the Opposition to produce policies that deliver:

• More ward beds across all public hospitals, city and country
• Strategies to address health workforce shortages so we can get more doctors and nurses into the public system
• More sub-acute, rehabilitation and geriatric care beds
• More efficient patient discharge arrangements
• Better integration of residential and community care, and
• Genuine cooperation between the Commonwealth and the States and Territories to ensure patients and the community get better value for every public hospital health dollar.

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17 September 2004

Media Comment:

AMA                                                                 Dr Bill Glasson, 0427 757 375

Catholic Health                                      Francis Sullivan, 0418 486 440

AHA                                                                 Prue Power, 0417 419 857

ASMOF                                                           Peter Sommerville, 0417 047 764

ANF                                                                 Jill Iliffe, 0419 576 590

Royal College of Nursing, Australia (RCNA)            Rosemary Bryant, 0414675 405

Aust College for Emergency Medicine            Dr Andrew Singer,            0416070 991

Aust Society for Geriatric Medicine                      Dr Jeff Rowland, 0419240 044