State budget positive for health

“It’s good to see the overall increase in health funding is above the inflation rate, recognising that it’s not good enough to just keep level with inflation,” AMA Queensland President Dr Maria Boulton said.

“We are seeing increased growth in our population and our health investments must keep pace with that growth, and the cost of delivering high-quality healthcare.

“We are also pleased to see that more recommendations from our Ramping Roundtable Action Plan have been adopted, including funding to extend hospital transit and discharge lounge opening hours to allow patients to be discharged after hours and on weekends, freeing up beds for patients waiting in emergency departments.

“We welcome the detail around the financial incentives to attract interstate and international medical practitioners to rural and remote Queensland, and would like to see this scheme expanded to include GPs and other private specialists, not just Queensland Health employees.

“It is a great relief that maternity services have been restored at Gladstone Hospital. This is great news for families in the region and we hope to see other maternity units around the state reopen soon.

“We look forward to seeing the continued rollout of the 2,500 new hospital beds promised last year.

“We are disappointed that the Treasurer has ruled out extending the payroll tax amnesty for tenant GPs in practices beyond June 2025, but we will continue to advocate for an exemption from this new interpretation of the tax that will only force patient costs up. The amnesty does not apply to new practices and will affect most practices beyond June 2025.

“An ongoing challenge is better integration of all areas of the health system – public and private hospitals, general practice and other private specialists, aged care, disability care and allied health practitioners. The Workforce Plan currently being developed by Queensland Health must look at all these areas to determine where the shortages are most urgent and where the additional staff will come from.

“The budget missed the opportunity to support the access of patients to GPs by increasing GP numbers, especially in rural and remote areas. We will continue calling for incentives for medical graduates to enter General Practice Specialty training and support placements of hospital resident doctors within General Practice.

“We look forward to seeing more detail in coming weeks and working with the Minister on implementing these budget measures.”