Page 1960 - Week 06 - Friday, 6 May 2005
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recurrent government payments for outputs in 2005-06 is further evidence that we will continue to focus on health in our second term. This will not just be about boosting the number of beds, which we have done; nor will it just be about increasing the availability of qualified nursing, medical and allied health staff, which we have also done; nor will it be just about tackling the number of patients waiting on elective surgery waiting lists, which we are doing. The key challenge is to align our health programs, funding, management and reporting around the core goal of timely access to care based on clinical need.
Three key factors determine how well we are able to respond to the challenge of timely access to health care based on need. These are, firstly, growth in demand for acute care; secondly, providing the necessary capacity, which includes funded surgical sessions, beds, staff and equipment to meet demand; and, thirdly, internal management, work practices and business processes used to deliver services.
The ACT government cannot control all of these factors, especially growth in demand. Demand is influenced by many issues, including demographic changes, population health factors, the uptake of new technologies, Australian government policies, and regional factors such as services provided by the surrounding New South Wales health system. However, our 2005-06 budget measures respond to those drivers of access over which we can have greatest influence, which are, firstly, reducing demand through prevention of presentations and avoidable admissions to hospital; secondly, provision of additional capacity; and, thirdly, management, work practices and business processes used to deliver services.
Let me look at each of these in turn. The first is to avoid preventable admissions to the acute hospital system. Notwithstanding the limited capacity of the ACT government to control the growth in demand for acute care services, there are specific budget measures aimed at reducing the demands on our public hospital and health care system. Demand will be reduced through preventing presentations and admissions to the acute hospital setting.
The 2005-06 budget will provide ongoing funding for after-hours primary medical care, a key election commitment that the government has developed with the Canberra After Hours Locum Medical Service, CALMS. This initiative is also supported by the Australian government. Previously, as members may be aware, CALMS provided after-hours GP services only to patients whose GP was a member of CALMS. But the new model, developed in collaboration with CALMS and the ACT government, extends access to all members of the ACT community.
Home visiting will be made available to people who cannot access the clinics or need assistance outside of clinic operating hours, and a telephone transfer system with Health First so that patients can be transferred between the two services. This new service, which I am pleased to be formally opening later today, will assist people in the ACT to access more appropriate primary medical care through GPs rather than through public hospital emergency departments. This will in turn help free up emergency departments to focus on genuine emergencies.
We have provided a further $300,000 in the budget to establish a falls prevention program for ACT residential care facilities. Falls are a major cause of hospitalisation for
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