COAG can save WA's struggling hospitals

Media release from the AMA (WA)

More and more people will continue to die unnecessarily in WA's struggling public hospitals unless the State and Federal Governments broker a deal at COAG next week which provides hospitals with a lifeline, the AMA (WA) warned today.

"We need an extra 400 beds to stop around 200 deaths a year resulting from overcrowding in our public hospitals," said association President Prof Gary Geelhoed.

"WA has the worst access block in the nation and the solution requires a big financial investment from both the State and Federal Governments."

Prof Geelhoed said the release today of the Federal AMA's 2008 Public Hospitals Report Card was a timely wake up call for the Rudd Government which had failed so far to live up to its promise to restore the nation's public hospitals.

The report says there is a nationwide shortfall of 3750 public hospital beds which requires an immediate $3 billion injection from the Federal Government.

"The report paints a bleak picture for our public hospitals – and those in WA are in the worst shape," said Prof Geelhoed.

"Unless we get more beds, nurses and resources to end the mayhem, occupancy levels will continue to be excessive, emergency departments will continue to work beyond their capacity and patients will die who should not have died."

Prof Geelhoed said when the WA Premier Colin Barnett attends COAG (Council of Australian Governments) later in the month he will need to present the strongest case possible for WA which needed at least $300 million in additional Federal funding.

"At the same time the WA Government can't ask for additional funding while they are proposing to cut their own Budget funding by three percent," he said.

"Both Governments have an historic opportunity to fix our public hospitals for the next 20 years.

"But it requires genuine bi-partisan investment which focuses on the needs of patients.

"Anything less will be death by a thousands cuts."

Read More