More royalties should be spent on regional health

Media release from the AMA (WA)

AMA (WA) President Prof Gary Geelhoed said it is unacceptable, for instance, that Indigenous health was not given a greater priority

More Royalties for Regions funds should be spent on desperately needed rural health services rather than wasted on community projects which some country towns don't even want, the AMA (WA) said today.

"There are country areas where health services are almost third world standard – particularly where there are large Indigenous communities," said association President Prof Gary Geelhoed.

"The Government needs to sit down and take a hard long look at its priorities and redirect the millions of dollars being doled out through Royalties for Regions into projects that will really benefit the wellbeing of country people."

Prof Geelhoed said it was unacceptable, for instance, that Indigenous health was not being given greater priority and that ambulance services in some regions were run by volunteers who had to pay for petrol out of their own pockets.

"At the same time, the Health Minister is having to dip into Special Purpose Funds to help cash- strapped public hospitals balance their Budgets," he said.

"It's like raiding your kid's piggy banks to pay the household bills because you want to spend your own money at the golf club."

Prof Geelhoed said other regional health services needing funds to meet minimum standards to prevent them becoming dysfunctional, were:

• A second paediatrician in the Kimberley to help deal with the chronic disease crisis amongst Indigenous children
• Immediate reinstatement of a second adult specialist community physician in the Kimberley where the remaining physician provides services to an area of more than 420,000 square kilometres; comparable sized regions in the Northern Territory employ 10 physicians and provide a wide range of support services
• Increased pay to attract more Aboriginal health workers
• Funding for training health professionals and to encourage medical trainees to the country
• Expanded health services in the North West and Gascoyne to cope with the resources boom
• An intensive care unit at Bunbury Regional Hospital
• Properly funded after-hours medical services in Augusta where the Government has been downgrading services and using Nurse Practitioner services in lieu of fully qualified medical practitioners
• Expansion of Geraldton Hospital which will struggle to cope with future development in the region

"About $16 million from the Royalties for Regions scheme is going towards the redevelopment of Kalgoorlie Hospital which is a great example of what can be done with the money to benefit country people," said Prof Geelhoed.

"But with so many other health services ready to topple over because of lack of funding, there's a compelling argument to spend more of the Royalties for Regions money in these areas."

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