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Mr Rudd’s plan no solution to Health problems in Farrer
05-March-2010
The health reforms announced by Kevin Rudd this week will add yet another level of inflexible bureaucracy, Sussan Ley MP, Federal Member for Farrer, said today.
“Mr Rudd made a key election promise to ‘fix’ the health system by July last year and when asked about this last week he was unable to confirm his policy. Now in the midst of the Insulation debacle he has announced a grand “plan” which will not come into affect until 2012.
“I am therefore very wary of his proposal in that it is timely for him and has taken the spotlight of his Government’s inefficiencies but will not be effective in terms of improving health outcomes for Australians into the future”. Ms Ley said
I do not think this will have positive impacts on health services in NSW; particularly towns such as Deniliquin, Holbrook, Albury, Hay and Broken Hill (to name a few).”
“Over recent years many small rural hospitals have been closed or downgraded, I am concerned that budget-focused bureaucrats based in Canberra will now determine that towns like Deniliquin and Hay and Berrigan do not justify assistance for doctors or maybe even hospitals.”
“I make this judgement based on the inability of bureaucrats who already work for the Federal Govt to change the zoning for Deniliquin and Hay which would allow them to attract more doctors, but rather they use a bureaucratic code to determine the health needs of a town. I am sure that the new system will be no less bureaucratic and inflexible.” Ms Ley said.
“The Commonwealth should be able to take a greater role in primary care; but this proposal will simply add another layer of bureaucracy to the administration of hospitals – it will not deliver control of public hospitals to the community. I support local boards to manage budgets, staff levels and capital expenditure” she said
“There is also a definite lack of comprehensive detail about funding and a strong likelihood that taxes on families will increase and, if not that, then there will have to be cuts to other important programs in order to administer this new level of bureaucracy. That combined with the huge overspend that has occurred under this Government is of great concern to me and should be to all Australians”.
“I believe that the Coalition’s policy for NSW and Queensland health is efficient, compassionate and cost-effective. It is the quality of any intervention that matters and that must be the focus of any policy that is put forward”.
“We need reform to our health system now; but Mr Rudd’s way is not the right way” Ms Ley said.
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Media contact: Debbie Brown (02) 60213264 0428 297 699