AMA QUEENSLAND LAUNCHES WAR ON WASTE - Australian Medical Association Queensland

AMA Queensland today launched a campaign to name and shame the diabolical waste present in the health system in an effort to ensure the Rudd Government gets its reform agenda right for Queenslanders.

AMA Queensland President Dr Mason Stevenson said conservative figures show between two to four billion* dollars is being wasted each year across Australia with Queensland throwing away hundreds of millions of dollars.

“The wastage is widespread and is costing lives. The fact no one can pinpoint how much is actually thrown away is evidence of a system in turmoil,” Dr Stevenson said.

“If something isn’t done soon to curb the waste the situation will only get worse. Our ageing population will see more people become reliant on the health system and with more Australians retiring the tax dollar will be stretched.

“We can’t keep throwing money at health but we can save billions by eliminating waste.”

Dr Stevenson said the aim of the campaign is to encourage the Rudd Government to provide genuine reform as a matter of urgency.

“Our health system is sick, but our great fear is all this talk between the States and Commonwealth will amount to nothing but lip service with no real reform,” he said.

“As doctors are on the frontline it is vital we are heard to ensure genuine reform is achieved instead of just painting over the cracks.

“From now until the final reforms are announced we will declare a war on waste and name and shame areas where money is being poured down the drain.”

Some of the wastage in Queensland includes:

• Approximately 1 in 10 elective surgery patients admitted to hospital and prepared for surgery are discharged before surgery can take place due to a lack of operating theatre availability
• Many acute surgical and trauma patients wait many days, dosed up on pain killers and bedbound, until operating theatre time finally becomes available
• Category 2 Elective Surgery Patient Waiting Lists (16,158** people waiting for surgery) are escalating requiring extra care in the interim by Emergency Departments and GPs
• The waiting list to go on the waiting list is also escalating (180,582***) forcing countless Queenslanders to seek alternative or interim care at increased cost to the health system and the patient

Dr Stevenson said one area racking up a massive waste bill is the unnecessary duplication of medical tests which is costing taxpayers in Queensland tens of millions each year.

“Communication in the health system is dreadful and this leads to costly and inconvenient duplicate testing,” he said.

“We appreciate the Federal Government will introduce e-health legislation into parliament shortly to improve the sharing of patient information between GPs, specialists, diagnostic centres, pharmacies, public and private hospitals and other health professionals, but its implementation is still a long way off.

“The Queensland Government must take the initiative and increase the sharing of state records across the public and private health system in the interim. As long as security concerns are addressed and doctor patient confidentiality isn’t compromised.

“This will not only save taxpayers millions of dollars but will also ease patient suffering through faster diagnosis and treatment.”

Dr Stevenson also said the number of Queensland Health bureaucrats was shameful.

The State Government’s own figures show in 2008/09 there were 13,645 managerial and clerical staff (5,060 in 1995) in the Department of Health but only 6,715 doctors (3,095 in 1995).

“What makes this worse is that doctors spend almost 20% of their time every day filling out paperwork so several hours are spent dealing with red tape rather than looking after patients,” Dr Stevenson said.

“Today we are calling on Queensland Health to put an immediate moratorium on hiring more health bureaucrats.”

Dr Stevenson said a letter with a series of questions had been sent to the State Government demanding answers.

“The people have a right to know the answers to these questions and we have given the State Government 14 days to provide full responses,” he said.

The following questions have been asked of Queensland Health:

• In the previous decade how much Queensland Health hospital space has been dedicated to bureaucratic offices? For example, how many former wards, doctor’s common rooms etc in public hospitals have now been turned into bureaucratic offices?

• When was the last time Queensland Health did a health plan for high growth areas such as the Western Corridor, Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast and what is that plan?

• Will Queensland Health put a moratorium on hiring more bureaucrats in 2010?

• How many beds in Queensland hospitals are taken up by aged care patients?

• Why won’t Queensland Health decentralise its bureaucracy out of Charlotte Street into regional areas as strongly recommended in the Forster Report of 2005?

• What is Queensland Health doing to encourage doctors to relocate to regional Queensland and/or provide outreach services?

• What is being done to increase specialist vocational training places in all of Queensland’s hospitals?

• What is being done to reduce the enormous and escalating waiting list to go on the official waiting list to attend specialist outpatient departments?

• How many new beds will be created after spending $6.1 billion on health infrastructure in Queensland?

• How many beds will be decommissioned with the closure of older hospitals and wards?

• Is the ongoing use of Surgery Connect (public procedures performed in private hospitals) evidence elective surgery is cheaper in the more efficient private hospital system?

• In the past decade, how many patients have suffered significant adverse clinical outcomes, including death, as a result of unacceptable long waiting times for surgery?

• In the past decade, how many patients have suffered significant adverse clinical outcomes, including death, as a result of unacceptable delays in emergency department treatment times and access block?

Dr Stevenson said millions has been spent on months of public consultations, expert advisory committees, taskforces and national road shows — but there is still no detailed announcement on what our elected leaders are going to do about our health system.

“Prime Minister Kevin Rudd came out of the COAG meeting in December saying there was a need to ensure we get reform right. The concern is the reforms could take a long time beyond the next Federal Election and be too little too late,” he said.

“Until a reform announcement is made we will continue to name and shame the areas of the health system that need fixing until something substantial is done.”

AMA Queensland is the state’s peak health organisation which exists to advance the professional interests of doctors and the health of the community. It is an independent organisation which represents 5500 doctors - public and private specialists and general practitioners.

*Costing Constitutional Change: Estimates of the Financial Benefits of New States, Regional Governments, Unification and Related Reforms.
**Quarterly Public Hospitals Performance Report – September Quarter 2009
*** Quarterly Public Hospitals Performance Report - March Quarter 2009

AMA Queensland Susan Peterson (07) 3872 2209 or Mobile: 0419 735 641
Sequel Communications Shaun Rigby (07) 3251 8140 or Mobile: 0438 021 936