Page 1800 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 4 June 2014
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and administration of primary health care by Medicare locals. Australia-wide, Professor Horvath—who, I will repeat for the Chief Minister’s edification, as she chats around the chamber, was a previous commonwealth chief medical officer—
Mr Rattenbury: You have always got to dig, haven’t you—always?
MR HANSON: Sorry; you are interjecting.
Mr Rattenbury interjecting—
MADAM SPEAKER: Order, members! This is not a conversation; it is a debate. Mr Hanson, direct your comments to the chair.
MR HANSON: Madam Speaker, I apologise. Ironically, someone interjects, having a dig, by accusing me of having a dig. It seems strange.
Mr Rattenbury: I have reduced to your level, Mr Hanson. It is unfortunate.
MR HANSON: You have?
MADAM SPEAKER: Mr Hanson and Mr Rattenbury, desist.
Mr Rattenbury interjecting—
MADAM SPEAKER: Desist, Mr Rattenbury.
MR HANSON: Anyway, let me go back to the issue at hand. Australia-wide, Professor Horvath—as I said, the former chief medical officer—found that Medicare locals had delivered inconsistent outcomes, faced dispirited stakeholder engagement and had poor network cohesion. I will quote from the review:
… without addressing fragmentation—both within the primary health care sector, and more broadly across the health care system—patient care will continue to be compromised and the health system investment will not be maximised.
It is of concern that patients with chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and respiratory disease did not receive optimal care, in many instances due to the fragmentation of services. Broadly, the review found that many patients were continuing to experience fragmented and disjointed health care that negatively impacted on health outcomes and increased health system costs. Let me quote from the recommendations from the review:
… a small number of regional entities is required to link up the parts of the health system to allow it to operate more effectively and efficiently. Such entities must focus on improving patient outcomes through collaboratively working with health professionals and services to integrate and facilitate a seamless patient experience.
Professor Horvath was scathing in his observations of the high-level framework for current models. He said:
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