News
Time to Act: Health Reform is Everybody's Business |
| Spokesperson: | Australian Institute of Health Policy Studies |
| Date: | Friday, 14 September 2007 |
| Category: | National Health News |
| The Australian Institute of Health Policy Studies (AIHPS) - an independent think tank on health and policy - will today release its wide ranging discussion paper into what needs to change in Australian healthcare to improve health outcomes and get better value from the $87 billion annual investment in healthcare services. "If you're interested in the future of Australia, the Australian economy and Australian business then you have to be vitally interested in how and what we provide in terms of healthcare," claims Professor Brian Oldenburg, of AIHPS. "It's everybody's business because we have a health system that isn't designed to meet the health needs of Australians," argues Professor Oldenburg. "It's everybody's business because our health care system is unnecessarily dangerous and causes needless deaths and injuries, most of which we never hear about. "It's everybody's business because four billion dollars could be transferred into treating people without an added cent of taxpayers' money if we improved the productivity of health services - the gap between the most efficient state and the least efficient delivering health care in public hospitals is 35%. "And it's everybody's business because over the last decade there have been countless reports and recommendations to make things better but little's been done." "That's why we need the business community on board because this is core business. "Real health reform would make Australians healthier, fitter and more productive adding significantly to our GDP. We need to cut through the bureaucratic fog and make things happen - this is what business can do," says Prof Oldenburg. AIHPS will begin undertaking a series of releases and events, the first of which is National Community and Business Roundtable today 14th September 2007. This Roundtable brings together over 35 leaders from all sectors including leaders/directors/senior managers of significant organisations in the Australian community to discuss issues surrounding health system reform, including the current lack of effective participation and engagement of both business and the community in government decisions about Australia's health. "There is huge unfinished business in making our health system work better," argues Professor Peter Brooks, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Queensland. The report finds that many valuable recommendations from repeated inquiries into health reform have not been acted on. "What we need to do" says Professor Brooks "is keep governments honest in living up to their promises to fix the health system. "One way to achieve this would be to establish an independent body to monitor and annually report on whether governments have lived up to their reform commitments. "Every opinion poll indicates that health is one of the most important issues for consumers in who wins their vote in federal elections. It's now time for both major political parties to give the Australian public the detail on how they will reform the health system," said Prof Brooks "The right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing in Australian health care," says Professor Oldenburg. "Most health care takes place in the community but the links between hospitals and GPs and other community services can be extremely tenuous. "The result is that people who are sick literally fall between the cracks. We talk about adverse events in hospitals. Almost certainly far more health care caused injuries occur outside hospitals but we simply don't know about them. "And there's the wastage from unnecessarily repeated tests, delays and hospital admissions. The aim should be the right care in the right place at the right time from the right person. That doesn't happen all that often," said Prof Oldenburg. Key findings from the Institute's new report include: • Parliament has undertaken three major inquiries since 2000 into the health system, but many important recommendations have not been seriously examined, let alone implemented. • The pace of health reform is too slow. Health Ministers agreed in 2004 to publish information on sentinel events - problems with the quality of health care in public hospitals - but the first national sentinel events report was only released in July this year, three years after the promise. • There is scope for major improvements in the health of the population. Rural people die more often from some cancers than city-dwellers due to poorer access to services; about 7000 people each year suffer with staph infections, many while receiving hospital care; and about half of all people with high blood pressure do not receive appropriate treatment. "If we're serious about health reform" says Professor Oldenburg, "we should welcome new voices and new ideas about how to improve the health system". Governments must invest in serious consultation with all Australians in order to shape a vision for our future health system. The report proposes that a new community and business leadership coalition be set up to spearhead and accelerate the pace of health reform. In its report, the Australian Institute of Health Policy Studies also urges governments to: • Invest in prevention - particularly in communities where health is suffering most • Implement improved electronic health record and other systems so that the right hand of the system knows what the left hand is doing • Create incentives through innovative funding which better integrates hospital systems, primary care and community services • Engage business and community leaders to create a more equitable and fairer health system. "We must create a more accountable health system that ensures fair and equitable access to health services for all Australians," said Prof Oldenburg. Media contact: Margot Gorski Ph 03 9533 6783 or 0412 393 394 |
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