State and territory health ministers have knocked back the federal government’s proposed solution for public hospital funding, potentially dashing the Commonwealth’s hopes of securing a deal before Christmas.
The ministers met with their federal counterpart, Mark Butler, in Brisbane on Friday morning as part of the latest efforts to negotiate the next five-year hospital funding deal.
This week Prime Minister Anthony Albanese offered the states an extra $3 billion, on top of the $20 billion already pledged – with $2 billion reserved for tackling the deepening bed block crisis.
The ministers said the funding stalemate was blocking beds needed for emergency care.Credit: Dan Peled
Before the meeting, states released a report card that counted more than 3000 elderly and disabled Australians stuck in public hospitals when they should be at home or in residential aged care.
They said the number of these “stranded” patients had risen by 630 since they appealed to the federal government to take action at their last meeting in September.
The problem is most acute in Queensland, where more than 1000 elderly and disabled patients are languishing in public hospital beds, followed by NSW, with more than 850.
The ministers argued that these elderly patients were medically ready for discharge, but could not leave, as there were no beds for them to go to in federally managed aged care facilities.
Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls noted aged care was a federal responsibility, and slammed the government for not meeting those patients’ care needs.
Nicholls described his state as “ground zero for the calamity that faces our health system”.
“These are Australians who are waiting for the proper care … in a properly run, properly funded residential aged care facility that looks after them and meets their needs,” he said.
Health ministers from around the country gathered in Brisbane on Friday to meet with federal health minister Mark Butler.
He said his state and territory colleagues used Friday’s meeting to press the case for appropriate funding of the National Health Reform Agreement, including for stranded patients.
“The offer that we received overnight on Wednesday does not meet that requirement, and all states and territories – I think that I can speak for all of my colleagues here – have rejected that offer,” he said.
Butler, meanwhile, said the new offer was a generous one, and was confident the states would come to the table over the next few days to strike a deal before Christmas.
He said states wanting more money from the Commonwealth was expected, particularly in the health sector, but they must strike a deal to move forward on hospital funding and disability reform.
Mark Butler spoke to media after the meeting.Credit: Dominique Tassell
Butler said more should have been done by previous governments to prepare the aged care system for a surge in demand as the oldest of the baby boomers turn 80.
“We’ve compressed a lot of reform into aged care within just three or four years, but we know we need aged care providers building more facilities and building them very quickly.”
He said the federal government needed additional information about the types of beds required, such as whether people currently in public hospitals had higher level dementia needs.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
