Comments on: Smarter Health Care for the North http://michaelferguson.com/2010/02/smarter-health-care-for-the-north/ Liberal member for Bass Thu, 02 Sep 2010 06:41:20 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Sam Foggety http://michaelferguson.com/2010/02/smarter-health-care-for-the-north/comment-page-1/#comment-432 Sam Foggety Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:45:40 +0000 http://michaelferguson.com/?p=1076#comment-432 I think you are on the right track there Michael. You have obviously done more than stood outside the front of the LGH, put your index fingers to your temples and blurted the first idea that came into your mind. I tend to think that we do need at least ONE public medical center, as I agree with Ian, at the moment our already fragile and overburdened triage is having to deal with remedial tasks like "I have a sore throat" or "I need my stitches removed", both of which can be solved by a GP or a RN (I speculate that this is due to the fact that the hospital is one of the only places in north that bulk bills). I realize there is a shortage of both of these types at present, and I'm not suggesting to drop the ball on this current plan at all. The strategy is sound, but maybe we should look a little closer at primary health in the future to alleviate the pressure on the LGH. I think you are on the right track there Michael. You have obviously done more than stood outside the front of the LGH, put your index fingers to your temples and blurted the first idea that came into your mind.

I tend to think that we do need at least ONE public medical center, as I agree with Ian, at the moment our already fragile and overburdened triage is having to deal with remedial tasks like “I have a sore throat” or “I need my stitches removed”, both of which can be solved by a GP or a RN (I speculate that this is due to the fact that the hospital is one of the only places in north that bulk bills). I realize there is a shortage of both of these types at present, and I’m not suggesting to drop the ball on this current plan at all. The strategy is sound, but maybe we should look a little closer at primary health in the future to alleviate the pressure on the LGH.

]]> By: Ian http://michaelferguson.com/2010/02/smarter-health-care-for-the-north/comment-page-1/#comment-422 Ian Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:37:18 +0000 http://michaelferguson.com/?p=1076#comment-422 There are some great initiatives in the statement above however what concerns me is that it only addresses the supply and delivery of health services or in truth disease & illness remediation. Nothing seems to address the ever increasing demand for services so good luck. If you crack it then you will have every western nation banging on your door for the answer. I think a more realistic scenario is that demand will very quickly outstrip the ability to service delivery and we'll end up where we are now but with a higher percentage of the state budget allocated to health. Why not pump a bunch of $'s into primary health? How about getting into the schools and educating students, families and teachers about better nutrition. How about giving me a tax rebate each year if I can demonstrate that I undertake some regular exercise? If it is good enough for insurance companies to put $'s on this for life insurance then it should be a snap for the ATO also. How about changing the health sector to really live up to that name? Wouldn't it be nice to go to my G.P. annually and to get best practice advice on healthy eating and living options. The trouble is the last time I went to my G.P. he looked fat and unhealthy and was only interested in getting me out the door within 10 minutes with a script. No questions about lifestyle factors, employment environment or social connection within the community. I guess if we limit ourselves to this sort of "health" care then we will continue experience the ever increasing demands on the health care sector. Final comment. You mention about the revamp of the LGH DEM. Good idea but how about a co-located out of hours private G.P. service which bulk bills? The Outpatients area at the LGH closes around 5-6 p.m. and with a bit of remodeling this could be an accessible location for such an endeavour. I think if you did a quick look at the patient profile of the LGH DEM then many would be accessing services which could be delivered easily and quickly by a G.P. Seems a shame to tie up an incredibly costly and overburdened infrastructure with request for suture removals, ear aches, etc. There are some great initiatives in the statement above however what concerns me is that it only addresses the supply and delivery of health services or in truth disease & illness remediation. Nothing seems to address the ever increasing demand for services so good luck. If you crack it then you will have every western nation banging on your door for the answer. I think a more realistic scenario is that demand will very quickly outstrip the ability to service delivery and we’ll end up where we are now but with a higher percentage of the state budget allocated to health.

Why not pump a bunch of $’s into primary health? How about getting into the schools and educating students, families and teachers about better nutrition. How about giving me a tax rebate each year if I can demonstrate that I undertake some regular exercise? If it is good enough for insurance companies to put $’s on this for life insurance then it should be a snap for the ATO also. How about changing the health sector to really live up to that name? Wouldn’t it be nice to go to my G.P. annually and to get best practice advice on healthy eating and living options. The trouble is the last time I went to my G.P. he looked fat and unhealthy and was only interested in getting me out the door within 10 minutes with a script. No questions about lifestyle factors, employment environment or social connection within the community. I guess if we limit ourselves to this sort of “health” care then we will continue experience the ever increasing demands on the health care sector.

Final comment. You mention about the revamp of the LGH DEM. Good idea but how about a co-located out of hours private G.P. service which bulk bills? The Outpatients area at the LGH closes around 5-6 p.m. and with a bit of remodeling this could be an accessible location for such an endeavour. I think if you did a quick look at the patient profile of the LGH DEM then many would be accessing services which could be delivered easily and quickly by a G.P. Seems a shame to tie up an incredibly costly and overburdened infrastructure with request for suture removals, ear aches, etc.

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