Page 3283 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 13 November 2007
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
programs, mechanisms to prevent disease regression and more early detection of chronic diseases. This program is built on the very simple premise that when you are fully involved in a person, in the management of their health, you end up with better health outcomes. More of our services are now provided as an integrated whole, with the management of care across the community and hospital spectrum being managed by a single team.
But there are issues that need further attention, and we are looking to attend to them. The biggest factor behind the increased demand for access to emergency departments is the lack of access to general practitioners. As you know, Mr Speaker, general practitioners are a commonwealth responsibility, and, due to the abject failure of the current commonwealth government, we are 60 GPs short in the ACT—60. The result of all of this is that the ACT has the second highest per capita usage of emergency departments in Australia. In fact, the utilisation rate is approximately more than 20 per cent above the national average. That is right, Mr Speaker; we are shouldering the consequences of the current federal Liberal government’s 11-year failure to address GP shortage numbers.
The ACT government has repeatedly written to the Howard government telling them that the district of workforce shortage strategy, a strategy that attempts to ensure there is an effective and equitable system for the distribution of the medical workforce, does not work in a place the size of the ACT. The Howard government will only allow overseas-trained doctors with a Medicare provider number to practice medicine in Australia if they are working in areas classified as a district of workforce shortage. There is a strong argument for declaring the ACT as a district of workforce shortage so that the lack of GPs can be addressed as quickly as possible. But our health system will always be struggling if the Howard government refuses to address this and accept that this is a problem.
This government has been working long and hard to get the Howard government to understand this situation, but the advice has been falling on deaf ears. What this means to the ACT public is that if we only had the national average number of GPs, there would be an additional $15 million of Howard government funding. If we count the additional services that GPs order, which would include items such as X-rays and private pathology, the shortfall is more like $18 million. Most of all, the impact is felt with a 20 per cent higher presentation rate to our busy emergency departments.
Mr Speaker, I would hazard a guess that every one of us who actually sits in this place could talk about an instance in which we have had difficulties getting in to see our local GP because they are so stretched. We all know that there are problems with access to GPs and that this causes pressure on our emergency departments. In other words, one patient in five should probably be seen by their GPs, but there are not enough GPs because, at the moment, the likes of Gary Humphries, John Howard and Tony Abbot have totally failed us in that regard.
Further, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report, Health expenditure Australia 2005-2006, shows that in the 10 years from 1995-96 to 2005-06 the Australian government’s share of public hospital funding decreased from 45 per cent to 41 per cent. State and territory government funding, including the ACT, during this
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .