The AMA has backed calls for more help and issued a warning after the Prime Minister unleashed on health ministers and the Qld Premier.
The Australian Medical Association has backed state and territory governments calling for more funding for public hospitals after the Prime Minister unleashed on health ministers and the Queensland Premier.
On Tuesday it was revealed health ministers from Australia’s eight jurisdictions asked for immediate additional funding from the government in a bid to inject more resources into public hospitals as the country reopens.
“States and territories are under unrelenting strain due to the current Covid-19 demands and the pre-existing trend of increased hospital activity,” the ministers said in a letter to federal health minister Greg Hunt.
“We are entering into the most critical phase of the Covid-19 pandemic response for our hospital systems.
“All states and territories require immediate additional Commonwealth funding to support the pressures currently on our health systems.”
Yet in a scathing take-down, Scott Morrison slammed the move, telling the Today Show: “We have been showering the states with money over the course of Covid.
“We’ve been working with them constructively. We’ve supported them time and again with joint funding initiatives. We’ve shared 50/50 the costs of Covid on the health system, more than 30 billion around the country we’ve pumped into health support.”
Notably, Queensland has warned its border with Victoria and NSW could remain shut until the Commonwealth agrees to a major increase in hospital funding – as the Sunshine State’s government is concerned of a spike in hospitalisations.
“I am not going to put Queenslanders at risk until both of those issues are sorted out,” Ms Palaszczuk said on Friday. “Which means a big injection of funds from the Federal Government into the states to make sure the hospitals are able to cope with the growth (in cases) that will happen.”
According to the AMA, Ms Palaszczuk has every right to be concerned, with President, Dr Omar Khorshid warning “we’re not at all confident about the state of our public hospitals” over the next few months.
“That’s why we’ve been making these calls now for several months saying we need to get ready, that we can’t magically build more hospitals or get more staff, but there are things that can be done to get ready,” he told ABC Afternoon Briefings, warning elective surgery and non-urgent care “will go out the window the moment we start to see Covid cases in Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Northern Territory or WA”.
Yet when asked about Ms Palaszczuk’s concerns, Mr Morrison took aim.
“Well, she has to take that up with the Queensland people then. I mean, to go down this point and say ‘well, you know, I’m going to hold the Federal Government to ransom and seek to extort money from them on the basis of Covid’, I just don’t think is the right way to go,’’ Mr Morrison said.
“Of course there are challenges but as a state government, they’ve got to be responsible for their state health system. NSW is getting on with it, so are Victoria and the ACT, so Queensland needs to get on with it.”
The AMA warned there is a reason to be concerned and are calling for support because they know the system won’t be able to cope when Covid borders reopen.
“What the AMA is now calling for is for both levels of government to recognise that every State and Territory has a crisis with its public hospitals,” Dr Khorshid said.
“In every State and Territory public hospitals were overwhelmed before Covid, and of course we’re seeing right now in NSW and Victoria the impact of Covid, on top of the already very large demand on public hospitals.
“So, the other States are worried, and part of the reason why we can’t open up as a country, and that even at 80 per cent those States may not open up, is they know their hospitals are not going to cope and they will be held to account for that.
“Now we can play a blame game, but at the end of the day we need more money into the sector, we need to fix the long-term under investment that’s been a reality for decades now, and the AMA is asking governments to work together, rather than to blame each other, for who’s spending enough money and who isn’t.”
Dr Khorshid blamed lack of staffing, expensive testing, efficiency and problems with outbreaks within hospital systems for pushing the strain on the system, including the higher demand for longer term care for patients in need.
“Of course you’ve got staff off sick or furloughed because they’ve been exposed to Covid.
“All that stuff actually makes healthcare more expensive and less efficient... and that’s just the starting point of the extra money that needs to be paid to help our hospitals get through this crisis.”
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiqgFodHRwczovL3d3dy5uZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9uYXRpb25hbC9hdXN0cmFsaWFuLW1lZGljYWwtYXNzb2NpYXRpb24tYmFja3MtY2FsbHMtZm9yLWNyaXNpcy1mdW5kaW5nLWZvci1ob3NwaXRhbHMtYWZ0ZXItcG1zLXR2LWZ1cnkvbmV3cy1zdG9yeS85OTgyNTcyMGZhZTFjY2RjMjhiNzYxMmVmODA5ZmM1M9IBrgFodHRwczovL3d3dy5uZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9uYXRpb25hbC9hdXN0cmFsaWFuLW1lZGljYWwtYXNzb2NpYXRpb24tYmFja3MtY2FsbHMtZm9yLWNyaXNpcy1mdW5kaW5nLWZvci1ob3NwaXRhbHMtYWZ0ZXItcG1zLXR2LWZ1cnkvbmV3cy1zdG9yeS85OTgyNTcyMGZhZTFjY2RjMjhiNzYxMmVmODA5ZmM1Mz9hbXA?oc=5
2021-10-05 14:50:06Z
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