Tuesday, 17 February 2004
MediaRelease
“The new study showing private hospitals are sucking resources from public hospitals shows the truth of the assertion that the private health insurance (PHI) rebate is a millstone around the neck of public hospitals,” said Dr Tim Woodruff, President, Doctors Reform Society.
“Doctors shortages, nurse shortages, and many other shortages, are at least partly due to the fact that for private hospitals to do more operations and admit more patients, they need staff, and those can only come from public hospitals where there are already shortages,” said Dr Woodruff.
“So our patients continue to miss out,” said Dr Woodruff. “Most of them don’t have private insurance, so they have go public, where waiting lists are years long because there are not enough staff, and where mistakes happen because there are not enough staff. The staff are next door in the private hospital, looking after the minority of our patients who can afford private insurance.”
“But all of our patients lives are at risk as our public hospitals continues to miss out, because in emergencies the public hospital is the lifesaver no matter how good the credit card,” said Dr Woodruff. “Kerry Packer’s life was saved in a public hospital.”
“It’s time for the Government and the Opposition to rethink this $2.2 tax support for the private system and look at how best to spend this enormous amount of taxes efficiently for the benefit of all our patients, in the public system.”
Dr Con Costa
Vice President
Doctors Reform Society
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Dr Tim Woodruff
President
Doctors Reform Society
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Dr Tracy Schrader Vice President Doctors Reform Society
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