Any health funding offer from Canberra must put patients first

Published Wednesday, 30 March, 2016 at 01:13 PM

JOINT STATEMENT

Premier and Minister for the Arts
The Honourable Annastacia Palaszczuk

Minister for Health and Minister for Ambulance Services
The Honourable Cameron Dick

An interim offer to restore Australian Government funding for hospital funding puts the health of the Turnbull Government ahead of patients, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.

“The Abbott Government ripped up the National Health Reform Agreement in its first Budget. It has meant $11.8 billion cut to future funding for Queensland’s public hospitals from July 2017,” the Premier said.

“Malcolm Turnbull acknowledges the Australian Government must play a role, but an interim deal is not good enough without a genuine long-term commitment that we had with the 2011 National Health Reform Agreement.

“A three or four-year deal is designed to reduce pressure on the Turnbull Government, not on reducing pressure on our public hospitals.”

Health Minister Cameron Dick said the $11.8 billion reduction in funding for public hospitals in Queensland from 2017-18 to 2024-25 would impact on health service delivery across the State.

Mr Dick said the funding reduction equated to:

  • 818 fewer doctors
  • 2895 few nurses
  • 34,000 fewer sub-acute patients will be able to be admitted to hospital
  • 125,000 fewer patients will be able to be treated for mental illness
  • 1.36 million fewer acute patients will be able to be admitted to hospital
  • 2.15 million fewer patients will be able to be treated in the emergency department
  • 4.93 million fewer patients to be treated (but not admitted to hospital)

“Fewer Queenslanders will be able to be admitted to our hospitals and fewer Queenslanders will receive the treatment they need within clinically recommended times,” Mr Dick said.

“The Federal Government has the chance at COAG to do the right thing by Queenslanders and reinstate the agreed responsible system of funding for public hospitals, and it’s high time he acted.”

The Premier said speculation about the Australian Government’s offer for the States and Territories to either apply a surcharge on income tax or obtain a share of income tax was a diversion from the Abbott-Turnbull Government walking away from funding responsibilities for health and education.

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