Concern about what additional burdens the spread of Covid19 might put on hospitals in Australia will further aggravate existing pressures on the health system. There are already reports of over-worked emergency departments and long waiting lists to see specialists and for admissions for elective surgery in public hospitals, even in affluent places like Canberra. The pressure on public health services is symptomatic of risks to the sustainability of our health system nationally and particularly on elderly and low-income Australians. The vision of hospitals struggling to meet a potentially large and different challenge posed by Covid19 is already prompting consideration of changes to meet the hazards of widespread contagious disease. Such measures might include reforms that have been long-suggested, including Medicare-financed telehealth for GPs. If patients could consult their GPs by telephone, skype or other video means that would reduce the need for unnecessary visits by patients. And wider government use of available beds in private hospitals for elective surgery could also lighten the heavy load on public wards. We must hope that the optimism expressed by authorities that Australia is well-placed to meet a potential “surge” of cases triggered by Covid19. That may be so. The fact is that too often there are pain points in the system that mean people are not taking up referrals for treatment because of high gap fees, that many people who have private treatment then face excessive out of pocket costs. The result is that the impact of poor access to specialists is that people are getting sicker and their illness more chronic and when they finally get to hospital they are often more expensive to treat. Leanne Wells
Chief Executive Officer |
