THE NATIONAL Health & Hospitals Reform Commission has wasted a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fix the rural health crisis, it was claimed this week.
It has ignored the need for urgent initiatives to entice more doctors and health professionals to the bush, according to the Rural Doctors Association of Australia.
It said the commission had released its much-anticipated report into the performance of the Australian health system, finding massive failings.
The report was the product of 16 months of deliberations by 10 health policy experts and would provide the blueprint for the largest reforms to health-care system since the introduction of Medicare in the 1980s.
The association said Prime Minister Kevin Rudd went to the last election promising that the Federal Government would take over the health system from the states if there was not significant improvement by mid-2009.
But the report recommended that he go only part of the way, stating that the Commonwealth should take over responsibility for a large swath of health-care services and dramatically reshape Medicare.
The association said it was "not impressed" the commission had "again ignored its calls", first made in February when the interim report was released, that the number-one priority for fixing the rural health crisis was improving access to local healthcare by getting more health professionals into rural and remote Australia.
"Consequently, it is extremely unfortunate and frustrating to us that the commission has not heeded our advice when developing its final report on health reform," association president Nola Maxfield said.
"The commission's final report was meant to be a report for the whole health system, but unfortunately it has a gaping hole in rural health.
"The crucial element missing from the report is any recommendation for substantial new initiatives to get more doctors and other healthcare professionals to the bush.
"In particular, we are extremely disappointed that a critical Rural Rescue Plan put forward by RDAA and the Australian Medical Association has again been overlooked by the commission.
"Implementation of this plan would be a very cost-effective (and we believe hugely successful) way to get and keep more doctors in rural practice by providing real incentives and supports for them.
"We have already seen this type of plan introduced in Queensland by the state government, and the ensuing increase in rural doctors there has been staggering."
Dr Maxfield said the issue was not about which tier of government controlled the health system, but whether there was a health system at all in the bush.
"The continuing, chronic shortage of health professionals in our country communities means that rural Australians are simply not able to access the healthcare they need and deserve," she said.
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