November 4, 2009 – 9:32 am
As the previous Croakey posts report, the NT Government is under fire for its policy of refusing dialysis treatment in Alice Springs to Central Australians who live outside the Territory’s borders.
But the spotlight should be put on the Federal Government, argues Professor Wendy Hoy, of the Centre for Chronic Disease, School of Medicine, University [...]
October 14, 2009 – 1:47 pm
Australia’s international reputation in education has been taking something of a hammering lately. Attacks on overseas students have generated bucketloads of adverse publicity, and the uncertain future facing many international medical students is another issue that won’t go away anytime soon.
Professor Bruce Robinson, dean of medicine at the University of Sydney, thinks one solution may [...]
October 7, 2009 – 4:02 pm
We’ve heard a lot of debate about what proposed health reforms might mean for people with chronic diseases or people on hospital waiting lists.
But we haven’t heard much at all about what the reforms might mean for one extremely needy group who are often not well served by existing health services or funding structures.
Professor Ian [...]
September 30, 2009 – 11:50 am
How do we know if our general practice/hospital/dentist/aged care service is providing safe and quality care? At the moment, it’s almost impossible to answer this question in any objective manner.
But at least we now have some idea of what sort of questions we should be asking, thanks to a report released this week by [...]
September 8, 2009 – 7:35 pm
Croakey recently wondered why the primary health care sector was so absent from the appointments to the new National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).
The omission has been somewhat rectified by today’s announcement of the Council’s committees, particularly with the newly established prevention and community health committee, and the newly established health care committee.
But primary [...]
September 3, 2009 – 7:21 pm
The current focus on primary health care reform has left GPs feeling confused, nervous and anxious, if this piece from rural GP David Monash is anything to go by. He writes:
“The elephant in the room that is not being spoken of or referred to in the current plethora of reports and indicated reforms in the [...]
September 3, 2009 – 1:12 pm
In the week that two major reports have stressed the importance of primary health care, it is more than a touch ironic that the new members of the National Health and Medical Research Council were also announced – without a single member there to wave the flag for primary health care.
You can see the new [...]
September 2, 2009 – 3:51 pm
“Primary healthcare reform is the single most important strategy for improving our health and making the health system sustainable. Community-level prevention and primary healthcare is essential to restoring universalism and efficiency in Australian healthcare.”
That quote actually comes from the Preventative Health Taskforce report. I thought it worth mentioning because the draft of the first national [...]
September 2, 2009 – 3:24 pm
It was entirely predictable that yesterday’s launch of the National Preventative Health Strategy – which you can download here in all its glorious weight – would provoke cries of the Nanny State. (In fact I predicted it several weeks ago in this Crikey article which explores something of the history of the term, as well [...]
Fiona Armstrong, a health policy advisor and longstanding advocate of health reform, is deeply disappointed by the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission report. She writes:
“The NHHRC report is not only a missed opportunity to create a system that will address equity and efficiency in the current system – instead its proposals threaten both.
Of course [...]
