February 25, 2009 – 10:59 am
Caroline Homer, Professor of Midwifery at the University of Technology Sydney, comments on the new report:
“It is an exciting time to be part of Australian maternity services! The key recommendations of the Report of the Maternity Services Review, commissioned by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing, are exciting and encouraging and pave the way [...]
February 18, 2009 – 10:52 am
Ken Harvey’s recent Crikey piece about the TGA’s draft guidelines for evidence on weight loss products has apparently ruffled a few industry feathers.
Pharma Focus recently reported the ASMI’s concerns about “mischievous misrepresentation” of the guidelines.
The discussion continues below. Read on…
Part 1
From: Ken Harvey, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow
School of Public Health, La Trobe University
To: Deon Schoombie, [...]
February 17, 2009 – 3:20 pm
Emeritus Professor Kerry Goulston, who has been active in the Hospital Reform Group in NSW, has welcomed the NHHRC’s interim report.
“It will hopefully play an important role in a full public debate about the future of Australian healthcare,” he says.
“This is long overdue. The community need to get involved at all levels and the media [...]
February 16, 2009 – 9:27 pm
Professor Ian Hickie, Executive Director of the Brain and Mind Research Institute, writes:
Now that the NHHRC has released its interim report, it’s time the Federal Government gave us some serious indication of whether it is genuinely committed to the sort of real reform that our health system needs.
It’s time for the Rudd Government to [...]
February 16, 2009 – 8:38 pm
Professor Mike Daube, Professor of Health Policy, Curtin University of Technology:
“There are some good things in the report – from the commitment to tackling inequities to the emphasis on prevention.
What seems to be missing, a year on from the Commission’s establishment, is final conclusions on Commonwealth/State relationships, and how new funding can be found for [...]
February 16, 2009 – 7:07 pm
Gavin Mooney, Professor of Health Economics, University of Sydney, writes:
Following on from my prediction of what would NOT be in the NHHRC’s interim report (see earlier Croakey post below), I was unfortunately right – even if some of the proposals, especially on one-stop shops for primary care and improving equity, are good. But is is [...]
February 16, 2009 – 4:06 pm
My first reaction, after an admittedly cursory speed-read, is that one of the key themes/motherhood statements of the report is sadly lacking.
The report repeatedly mentions the need for all of us – “people, families, communities, health professionals, employers and governments” – to individually and collectively take responsibility for our health.
I was struck that a large [...]
February 16, 2009 – 3:05 pm
Ian McAuley, health economist, Centre for Policy Development and University of Canberra, critiques the interim report of the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission, released today:
Although some of its ideas such as a Commonwealth takeover of primary care and the “Denticare” scheme have attracted publicity, it is a timidly-written document, ducking the big issues we [...]
February 16, 2009 – 2:45 pm
Gavin Mooney, Professor of Health Economics, University of Sydney, writes:
The key to the future of the Australian health service lies with – or ought to lie with – the people of Australia. It is our health that is involved; and it ought to be seen as our health service.
Currently the health service is provider driven; [...]
February 13, 2009 – 10:07 am
Stephen Leeder, Professor of Public Health at the University of Sydney, analyses the opportunities for health reform:
We have entered the Year of the Ox. Might it morph into the Year of the Oxymoron, where contradictory combinations of words – tough love, compassionate conservatism, decentralised governance – will reach epidemic levels, affecting health policy?
Health care is [...]
