Media Statement - 2nd August 2007
Shadow Health Minister Nicola Roxon today said that the Government’s decision to takeover a single Tasmanian hospital seemed like a political stunt from a Prime Minister lacking long term national solutions on health.
Mr Howard needs to explain why, out of the hundreds of public hospitals he has starved of funds around the country, he has chosen to help only one in a marginal seat, just weeks away from an election.
The failure of the Federal Government to address this nation’s health problems over the past eleven years has put enormous pressure on our hospitals:
- The Commonwealth’s share of public hospital funding has fallen from 50% to 45% between 2000 and 2005.
- In the last health funding agreement with the States, the Commonwealth ripped $1 billion out of public hospital funding.
- The Government has no prevention strategy in health – resulting in 500,000 preventable hospital admissions each year, including 50,000 for preventable dental conditions.
There is another gap in Mr Howard’s logic. Mr Howard says that people don't much mind which government intervenes, as long as they get results. He says if there is a clear community need he’ll act.
Eleven years ago Mr Howard axed the Commonwealth Dental Program and as a result 650,000 people are on dental waiting lists around the country and one in three can’t afford dental care - this dental crisis highlights a clear community need.
Why won’t the Government now act on dental care too? Since yesterday, they can no longer keep pretending it isn’t their issue.
And what is their answer to the national problem they have caused for thousands of aged care patients stuck in hospitals due to a lack of Commonwealth aged care beds?
On the Mersey proposal, the Government needs to explain the detail:
- Where is the money going to come from? If it comes from the existing pool of hospital funding, will other hospitals lose funding because of this decision?
- Where are the staff going to come from?
- How will this hospital be integrated with the Tasmanian health system?
- Will the Government force their decision on the Tasmanian Government if they refuse to agree to the plan? What powers will they use to achieve this?
In contrast to the Government, Labor is committed to negotiating a fair deal with the States and Territories on public hospital funding, with long term sustainability in mind.
This year, Labor has already announced a number of clear strategies that will have a positive impact on hospitals:
- Broaden the focus of the major health care agreement between the Commonwealth and the States and Territories beyond just hospital funding to include Preventative Health Care Partnerships and aged care;
- Provide 2000 additional transition care places to help solve the problem of frail aged people taking up acute hospital beds
- Provide up to $300 million in low interest loans to build or expand residential and respite facilities in areas of need, to help take the pressure off hospitals.
- Develop a National Preventative Health Strategy to provide a blueprint for tackling the burden of chronic disease, focussing initially on those caused by obesity, tobacco, and excessive consumption of alcohol.
- Establish a Commonwealth dental program to make dental care accessible for working families.
By focusing on partnerships with the States and Territories and investing in prevention, Labor’s health policies will remove a significant burden from public hospitals, which are currently forced to deal with spiralling rates of largely preventable chronic diseases.
After eleven years of neglecting health, the Howard Government should stop playing the blame game and take responsibility for fixing health care.