Page 236 - Week 01 - Thursday, 18 February 1993
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The principles and commitments of Medicare are that eligible persons must be given the choice to receive public hospital services free of charge as public patients; access to hospital services is to be on the basis of clinical need; to the maximum practicable extent, a State will ensure the provision of public hospital services equitably to all eligible persons, regardless of their geographic location; the Commonwealth and States and Territories must make available information on the public hospital services eligible persons can expect to receive as public patients; and the Commonwealth and the States and Territories are committed to making improvements in the efficiency, effectiveness and quality of hospital service delivery.
By including these principles and commitments in legislation, the ACT Labor Government will ensure that eligible persons in the ACT will be clear about their entitlements to public hospital services and will enjoy access to those services when their health requires it. This Government remains committed to continued improvements in access to high standard public hospitals for the Canberra community, despite the best efforts of the Liberals to undermine the management of the public hospital system and drag it down by constant criticism.
Mr Cornwell: Is this part of the ministerial statement?
MR BERRY: Indeed it is. This Government has already independently set in train some of the measures now sought by the Commonwealth, such as the establishment of an independent health complaints mechanism, which was announced in this year's budget. During the life of the present agreement some innovative projects such as early release of obstetrics cases and a move to day surgery have been funded by the Commonwealth as part of the Medicare incentives program. I have to say at this juncture that I am deeply concerned about claims by Mrs Carnell on public radio in the ACT that people are out on their ears as a result of the increase in day surgery in our public hospitals. That clearly is not the case. It is an outrageous claim and, again, is another attack on our public hospital system and the fantastic gains we are making in the reduction of length of stay within our public hospitals. To attack those sorts of gains shows how irresponsible the Liberals are and how much they are prepared to attack the public hospital system.
Mr Humphries: The lists are getting longer, not shorter.
Mrs Carnell: You are not shoving them out quicker.
MR BERRY: You can always get a squawk out of the cockies on the fence over here. It is just like the foxes in the pen. The Medicare incentives program will continue during the life of this agreement, and this Government will continue to trial innovative and cost-effective ways of delivering high-quality services. The Commonwealth is proposing to fund a series of reforms arising from the national health strategy, including area health management, devolution of clinical management, quality assurance, mental health, case mix funding, and capital planning. The ACT is well placed in this respect as many aspects of this framework are already being developed here. Criticise as you might, Mrs Carnell, we are getting on with it.
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