Rudd flags two-tier hospital system
Updated
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Health Minister Nicola Roxon will offer performance incentives for hospitals under its new health plan. (AAP : Dean Lewins)
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says the Government will offer incentive payments to outstanding hospitals under its new health plan.
If the states and territories agree to the plan, the Government will draw up a set of national benchmarks for the delivery of hospital services.
At last night's Australian Medical Association dinner, Mr Rudd said hospitals that exceeded the standards would be given more funding.
"We will put money on the line to drive those standards," he said.
"[The Government will provide] more funds to deliver essential health services and drive innovation and improvements across our hospitals.
"We must improve waiting times for emergency services. We must improve waiting times for elective surgery. But consistent with the move to activity-based funding, we won't be handing over blank cheques.
"We believe it is crucial to recognise concrete improvements in a concrete way. This will give local hospitals more funds to deliver essential health services and drive innovation and improvements across our hospitals."
But the president of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Andrew Pesce, says a major restructure of the health system will be hard for the sector.
"It's obviously painful for the Government, it's painful for the Opposition, it's painful for politicians, it's painful for the state ministers it's painful for the department of health bureaucrats," he said.
"And it's going to be painful for the medical profession, because if we are going to deliver change which delivers good outcomes, there are no free kicks - we are all going to have to contribute."
'Amateur hour experimentation'
The Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says elements of the Government's health plan have merit, but he wants more detail.
Mr Abbott told the AMA gathering that he does like the idea of paying hospitals directly for the services they deliver.
"Paying a hospital to do something makes more sense than rewarding a hospital for doing nothing," he said.
But he was very critical of the Prime Minister's "overly bureaucratic" plan and expressed doubts that Commonwealth public servants will be able to implement it.
"The hospital system is too important to be subject to amateur hour experimentation," he said.
"I think that every Australian should be very concerned that Mr Rudd and his ministers can't rule out tax increases to pay for their experimentation with public hospitals.
"It has the potential to close down hundreds of country hospitals, it will add a substantial additional bureaucrats and he can't in the longer term rule out new taxes to pay for it.
"So all up it's a disastrous plan."
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