Federal Health Minister Sussan Ley has rejected criticism from the nation’s peak medical group that Commonwealth budget cuts will open up a multi-billion dollar “black hole” for hospitals.
In two years, about $50 billion will be stripped from hospital funding, as the Abbott Government locks the rate of spending growth to inflation and population growth.
Hospitals have already been hit by a $1.8 billion cut in last year’s budget as earlier funding agreements were scrapped.
In its snapshot of public hospital performance, the Australian Medical Association (AMA) said the system was not coping with the demands and warned the situation would worsen with less funding.
AMA president Associate Professor Brian Owler said the “bleak” outlook must be high on the agenda at tomorrow’s meeting of state and territory leaders with the Prime Minister.
“The states and territories are facing a huge black hole in public hospital funding,” he said.
“It’s the perfect storm for our public hospital system.
“There’s no way that states and territories can even maintain their current frontline clinical services under that sort of funding regime let alone build any capacity we actually need to address the shortfalls now.”
But Ms Ley has defended scrapping the funding deal reached under the Labor government, in favour of inflation-led increases, arguing that funding will increase every year “at a significant rate”.
“But I absolutely reject Labor’s previous hospital deal,” she said.
“It was based on a different funding premise that in itself tended to inflate costs but on top of that, Labor simply said ‘here are your funding guarantees states and you will get this money any way.’
“What we are focused on in the Federal Government — and what all governments should be — is efficiency.
“Let’s get the best bang for our dollar, wherever it goes.”
Weatherill to propose solution to ‘unfair’ cut
South Australian Labor Premier Jay Weatherill said the cut was massively unfair.
“I’m going to COAG [Council of Australian Governments] not to merely complain about this cut, but also to propose a solution,” he told ABC’s The Business.
“I believe that we can leave this COAG with a pathway to a solution to this $80 billion cut.”
The report says the Commonwealth is “withdrawing” from its commitment to sustainable public hospital funding.
On hospitals’ performance, it found:
- Public hospital bed numbers show capacity is “not keeping pace with population growth”
- Targets on emergency treatment not being met, with 70 per cent of urgent cases at emergency departments seen within 30 minutes
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No improvement in waiting times for elective surgery