Health policies must address beds, staff, equipment: AMA (WA)
August 21, 2008
The AMA (WA) says West Australians are sick of waiting for health to be "fixed" and want solutions now that will end hospital overcrowding and allow doctors and nurses to provide the best standard of patient care possible.
"Health is still the biggest issue facing the community because we have a public health system that has been in poor shape for many years," said association President Prof Gary Geelhoed.
"People in their 60s or 70s, who are desperately waiting for elective surgery, get little comfort hearing about plans that will ease the crisis in seven or eight years time."
Prof Geelhoed said if the Government and the Opposition were serious about tackling some of the fundamental problems plaguing health they needed to have election policies that included:
+ At least 400 extra hospital beds to prevent overcrowding in Emergency Departments and provide hospitals with enough capacity to further reduce waiting lists and not allow them to blow out after the election.
+ Offering better pay and conditions - and a worthwhile career path - to attract up to 1000 more nurses into public hospitals.
+ Putting serious pressure on the Federal Government to provide more aged care beds so elderly people do not continue to block access to acute hospital beds.
+ Providing $100 million to replace the ever-growing list of antiquated and obsolete medical equipment hampering the operations of major tertiary hospitals. All equipment should be replaced by its expiry date.
+ A major focus on rural health by encouraging or providing more doctors in regional areas and offering better incentives for doctors to work with Indigenous communities.
+ Legislation to overhaul the Cannabis Control Act in line with the recommendations of the State Government's review released more than a year ago.
+ A well-funded and co-ordinated program that tackled the serious public health problems of obesity and alcohol abuse, particularly among young people.
"In a State as prosperous WA it is outrageous that elderly emergency department patients can lie for several days on a trolley waiting to be moved to a ward bed," said Prof Geelhoed.
"Equally outrageous is when the Government then blames GPs for the burden on emergency departments."
He said the Government's long-term plans for the restructure of public hospitals were encouraging, but there were major problems that could not be ignored any longer.
"Plans and visions don't solve problems; it's performance that counts, not rhetoric," said Prof Geelhoed.
"Unless Government's recognise this fact patients will continue to suffer."
 Media Contacts
|
