AMA President, A/Prof Brian Owler, said today that the latest report from the COAG Reform Council shows that no State or Territory met all their targets for elective surgery or emergency department performance in 2013.
A/Prof Owler said the report – National Partnership Agreement on Improving Public Hospital Services: Performance report for 2013 – is further evidence of public hospitals struggling to meet demand due to limited capacity.
“Australia’s public hospitals continue to provide a vital service due to the hard work and commitment of the doctors and nurses who work around the clock to provide quality care, but more funding and resources are needed,” A/Prof Owler said.
“This is not the time to cut public hospital funding. The hospitals must be funded and equipped to build capacity to meet current and future demand.”
A/Prof Owler said the COAG report shows that public hospitals aren’t meeting the targets set by governments in their national agreement to improve public hospital services.
“In 2013, most States did not achieve their targets for seeing patients for elective surgery in clinically recommended times,” A/Prof Owler said.
“No state met their National Emergency Access Target (NEAT) for treating, admitting, or discharging patients from emergency departments within four hours.
“There there have been some improvements in large public hospitals, but even these improvements need additional resources to build the ongoing capacity required to continue to meet targets.
“Unmet targets are an indicator of stressed whole-of-hospital capacity.
“Without funding to build additional capacity, public hospitals will continue to fall well short of performance targets set by governments.
“Doctors working in public hospitals today know there has been little change in the capacity of public hospitals to meet the demand for elective surgery and emergency care.
“The public hospitals will now face further stress from Government’s Budget measures to reduce public hospital funding by $1.8 billion over the next four years, and withdraw the guarantee of $16.4 billion additional funding under the National Health Reform Agreement over the next five years.”