Page 1798 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 4 June 2014
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of Medicare locals around the country on ice. It neglects the fact that many health programs, particularly in preventative health, often take several years of planning and a strategic rollout to achieve maximum effect.
Further, we know for a fact that some of the best value for money governments can achieve in health systems is through preventative health programs which reduce the incidence of chronic conditions such as obesity before they start hitting the health system in high cost areas of acute care. These facts have not been properly considered by this policy change being forced on Medicare locals and, as with other cuts to commonwealth health funding, the burden inevitably falls to the states and territories and to ordinary Australian families.
In short, the uncertainty of this tender policy process puts the future certainty and effectiveness of vital health services at risk. It also puts the jobs of skilled health practitioners under a cloud as Medicare locals are forced to divert attention and resources to a tender process in which there are no guarantees. The ACT government believes our world class health professionals should be able to continue their work with far greater certainty.
We are strong supporters of the ACT Medicare Local, its board, staff and programs which serve our community well. That is why my motion calls on the Assembly to join together in support of Medicare Local and that you, Madam Speaker, write to the Prime Minister to express the Assembly’s view to him. I ask all members to show support on this important matter, and I commend the motion to the Assembly.
MR HANSON (Molonglo—Leader of the Opposition) (6.08): I am pleased to be able to speak today on the vital role that primary health care plays in keeping our community healthy and the initiatives currently being proposed by the federal government to modernise the delivery of primary health care.
In the past, the Canberra medical community has been at the forefront of the coordination of the delivery of primary health care. Canberrans have been the beneficiaries of these initiatives.
For almost 20 years the ACT Division of General Practice established and delivered programs which set important new health priorities and values. The previous coalition government worked constructively with the divisions of general practice to drive change in general practice, including increasing levels of immunisation and computerisation in general practice.
As part of the Council of Australian Governments, COAG, national health reform agreement of 2011, the then Labor government replaced the divisions of GP with Medicare locals. They promised that they would improve the coordination and integration of primary health care in local communities, address service gaps, make it easier for patients to navigate their local healthcare system and so on.
Medicare locals were expected to fully engage with the primary healthcare sector, communities, the Aboriginal community, the controlled health service sector and local hospital networks. Their establishment broadly was based on an expansion of the existing divisions of general practice.
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