HOSPITAL BOARDS ALREADY TRIED AND FAILED IN QUEENSLAND

Hospital boards are an outdated, simplistic model which has already failed in Queensland, Health Minister Stephen Robertson said today.

Mr Robertson said Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott’s plan to resurrect community boards to run public hospitals would send Queensland back to the dark ages.

“Queensland experimented with hospital boards during the Bjelke-Petersen era and were an absolute disaster,” Mr Robertson said.

“They were financially inept, they borrowed heavily and left behind a debt of $313 million for taxpayers before then Premier Wayne Goss scrapped them in 1992.

“Queensland needs more doctors – not more bureaucrats sitting on individual boards.”

Mr Robertson said boards are flawed and simply would not work in Queensland’s vast, dispersed health system.

“Queensland’s major health systems review in 2005 considered hospital boards and concluded:

‘Local Hospital or Health Boards are no longer relevant or appropriate for the management of health services.’ (Page 70)

“Even independent experts agree that boards are not appropriate to manage sophisticated health services – they are from a bygone era.

“To even suggest such a broad and complex range of services in a massive state like Queensland could be run by local hospital boards shows just how out of touch Mr Abbott is.

“We have community input through Health Community Councils and other bodies, but we need the day to day running of hospitals left up to health experts which is what is happening now.

“Individual boards would also see hospitals working in isolation.

“We need hospitals working together as a network to overcome challenges and problems, not in competition.

“That is why we have districts managing multiple hospitals and clinical networks where doctors and nurses at different hospitals work collectively to drive solutions.

“Under boards, these networks and partnerships would collapse.”

Mr Robertson said Australia had waited 11 years for the Howard Government to show some real leadership on health reform.

“It takes a looming Federal election for Mr Abbott to finally consider reform and his first idea since becoming Health Minister four years ago is an absolute dud,” he said.

“Where’s his planning, economies of scale and detailed analysis to justify hospital boards?

“The Howard Government has under-funded hospitals and failed to supply enough Australian-trained doctors.

“And Mr Abbott blames State Governments for mismanagement. That’s a new low in the health blame game.”

2 October,  2007
MEDIA: Joshua Cooney 3234 1185 or 0409 069 056