| Healthcare Reform must take care of the vulnerable |
|
|
|
|
The Alcohol and other Drugs Council of Australia (ADCA) supports the Federal Government’s health and hospitals reform plan, but is concerned that vulnerable groups, such as those with alcohol and other drugs (AOD) problems and complex needs are not forgotten.
CEO of ADCA, Mr David Templeman, said ADCA agreed with the Prime Minister, who stated at the launch yesterday of the A National Health and Hospitals Network for Australia’s Future that the plan was “the most significant reform of Australia’s health and hospital system since the introduction of Medicare…”. “ADCA, as the national peak for the non-government (NGO) AOD sector provided a detailed perspective on healthcare reform to the Federal Government in late 2009, raising issues of concern such as sustainable funding, and capacity improvements needed to treat people with chronic, often complex AOD and other health needs,” Mr Templeman said. “These are needs that can be met by primary healthcare organisations, provided there are appropriate funding, treatment pathways, and workforce resourcing which can be holistically developed through the Federal Government’s proposed National Health and Hospitals Network.” “Alcohol and other drug use contributes over 12 per cent of the burden of disease in Australia,” Mr Templeman said. “If we are to avoid the projected increase in the nation’s health budget, from 15 to 25 per cent in 2050, it is vital that the AOD and health/ welfare NGO sectors are part of the solution.” ADCA Board Vice-President, Mr John Mendoza, said it was well known that chronic AOD use can often result in significant physical and mental comorbidities. “The Government’s move to take funding control of all sub-acute (non-hospital) services such as mental health and AOD treatments may well provide significant benefit to both sectors,” Mr Mendoza said. “The NGO Health/ Wellbeing sector has faced significant difficulty within the current system. For example, case-mix funding of hospitals, does not adequately compensate them for the interventions required to treat mental health, AOD and other complex needs patients.” Both Mr Templeman and Mr Mendoza said that the NGO AOD sector had experienced significant difficulty with staffing and resourcing caused by Federal-State funding disagreements and multiple short-term funding contracts. In July last year, the Prime Minister was quoted saying “…we spend just two per cent of our health funding on prevention, and 70 per cent on providing acute care…”. “ADCA looks forward to further announcements forecast by the Prime Minister yesterday on primary/ community care,” they said. “We need to move from a hospital to consumer focussed system.” Media Enquiries – Brian Flanagan, Manager Strategic Communications and Policy, Phone: 02 6215 9802 (w), 0400 860 058 (m) 4 March 2010 |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|