Labor's New Directions for Australian Health
AMA President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, today acknowledged that Labor's plan for health and hospital care is proof that health policy is now clearly a major election issue.
Dr Capolingua said Labor has outlined a strategic national approach to addressing the concerns about public hospitals meeting patient and community needs, but the plan tends to rely too much on redirection of patients and not enough on properly resourcing hospitals.
"It is encouraging that the major parties have both elevated health policy as a battleground so close to the election, and the focus on public hospitals is essential," Dr Capolingua said.
"The AMA has been calling for an increase in the Commonwealth contribution in the Australian Health Care Agreements to public hospitals, with increased indexation.
"Labor's promise of an additional $2 billion over four years is welcomed, but we still need more detail on how exactly the money will be spent and what it will mean for service provision.
"We know that the number of 'inappropriate' presentations to emergency departments (ED) is not the cause of the pressure on ED. Bed block is the issue.
"We know that the people who are in hospital need to be there because they are sick, or are having treatment.
"The real problem is that there are not enough beds.
"We know that GPs are working hard to care for patients in the community, but there are times when a sick patient needs hospital, but it is so difficult to get a bed.
"There is no clear commitment to increasing hospital beds in this plan.
"We know that to shorten patient stays you have to provide step down beds and Aged Care beds.
"If you want to decrease waiting lists, then you need to provide the doctors and the infrastructure to see, care for, and treat patients.
"A serious omission from the plan is the failure to target training, recruitment and retention of doctors and nurses in the public system.
"In fact, there is no mention of the underlying solutions to the 'benchmarks' that Labor has put forward - 'redirection' of patients is not the issue or the answer.
"Both parties should pay attention to where the real needs are.
"The National Health and Hospital Reform Commission might be a good idea but the new funding must not be wasted on administration and reviews.
"It must have strong clinician representation, and it should only be convened for a limited period. It should do its job and disappear.
"We would prefer that Labor does not ever need its Option 4, which involves a Commonwealth takeover of health.
"The AMA will seek discussions around medical workforce and beds before Mr Rudd sets his final health course for the election.
"But it would have been better if Labor had talked with us first," Dr Capolingua said.