Health Reform - For better healthcare and better hospitals

Derek says the reform process offers a great opportunity to free up emergency departments in hospitals by creating a special service to diagnose and treat older people who now come into emergency when something is wrong.

Tagged as: Health Professional, Vic

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Pramesh

Pramesh says newer technologies such as computerised tomography (CT) scanning can now be used to detect heart disease early, thereby enabling early treatment and preventing major life-disrupting problems later on.

Tagged as: Health Professional, NSW

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Terry

Terry has had personal experience of a new non-invasive way of checking the condition of coronary arteries using CT scanning, instead of invasive surgery – and he thinks it’s a great idea.

Tagged as: Community, NSW

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Nicole

Nicole talks about the benefits of case management.

Tagged as: Aged Care, NSW

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Peter

Peter, a doctor working in an Aboriginal Medical Service in the ACT, is enthusiastic about the one-stop shop model his centre has developed over the past 20 years and invites people to come and see what it does.

Tagged as: Health Professional, ACT

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Leanne

Leanne, who heads a large primary health care centre in a NSW country town, says there have been good savings in travel and accommodation costs with a system of bringing specialists to the town for initial consultations. She particularly supports the NHHRC recommendations on e-health records and Denticare.

Tagged as: Health Professional, NSW

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Michael

Michael says communication difficulties are arising in aged care facilities from the fact that many carers now have English as a second language. When combined with deafness, dementia and the difficulty of understanding “medical English”, this can make it extremely difficult to understand what the other person is talking about.

Tagged as: Health Professional, SA

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Anne

Anne wishes more attention could be paid to social determinants of health, whereby people show physical symptoms from homelessness, unemployment, or association with criminals.

Tagged as: Health Professional, ACT

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Stuart

Stuart says Australia already has a successful model for funding all kinds of medical services from a single “pot” – the veterans medical service.

Tagged as: Health Professional, ACT

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Rod

Rod says individuals’ responsibility for their own health will be an important factor in helping society cope with the dramatic ageing of the population coming over the next three decades.

Tagged as: Health Professional, ACT

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Doug

Doug says primary health care information systems are so different that it’s like the “olden days” in Australia when all the railway gauges were different – trains can’t go from one State to another.

Tagged as: Health Professional, ACT

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Matt

To achieve a more patient-centred orientation in the health system, Matt believes state and territory legislation should be standardised to ensure that health professionals in every state provide the same range of services.

Tagged as: Health Professional, ACT

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Andrew

Andrew calls for more support from state and federal governments for health professionals to continue training and development once they are in the workforce, so they can continuously expand their skills and deliver services better.

Tagged as: Education, Health Professional, ACT

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Annette

Annette says there’s tremendous potential to reform the nursing workforce, improve the coordination between education and training and the workplace, and develop new models of care. She says it is a “scary”, but exciting time to be in nursing.

Tagged as: Health Professional, ACT

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Leonie

Leonie says reforming the health system will involve overcoming numerous barriers, including differences in the approaches used by clinicians and policymakers, differences between State and Commonwealth funding, and differences between service providers.

Tagged as: Health Professional, ACT

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Tanya

Tanya says cost shifting between States and the Commonwealth is inefficient and costing money, and it would make a lot more sense if there was a single funding system.

Tagged as: Health Professional, NSW

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Graeme

Graeme says Australians value looking after everyone in the best way we can, but our hospital system is in crisis because senior doctors have been moving from the public to the private sector, and it’s hard to get them back. There is real urgency in stopping this flow, and there needs to be a single funding entity for reform to work properly.

Tagged as: Health Professional, NSW

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Len

Len says that e-health and telemedicine have the potential to give people living outside the major cities almost equal access to specialists, especially if such consultations become supported by Medicare funding.

Tagged as: Health Professional, Qld

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Ray

Ray sees the need for government to think big and quickly get into developing large standard IT systems, to avoid the development of a multiplicity of different smaller systems.

Tagged as: Health Professional, Qld

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Michael

Michael is a strong advocate of health professionals having some experience of medical research, to help them keep up to date with modern literature, be more questioning, and be more effective in applying research results in the clinic.

Tagged as: Health Professional, Qld

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Cindy

Cindy is concerned that the recommended establishment of a new Aboriginal Health Authority may have an adverse effect on the primary and preventive health care services that have been effectively delivered for decades by Aboriginal community-controlled health services.

Tagged as: Education, Qld

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Jan

Jan has a number of practical suggestions to encourage greater numbers of medical students to choose a career in general practice.

Tagged as: Education, Tas

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Judith

Judith describes a general practice demonstration site in her community which is “working wonderfully”, and states her belief that the best way forward is to build on successes such as this in primary care, with the aim of keeping people out of hospitals.

Tagged as: Health Professional, Tas

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Chris

Chris found post-operative care lacking after surgery for a broken leg – and was also confused about the relative status of public and private patients. But he’s happy to be back playing soccer again.

Tagged as: Community, WA

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Sue

Sue says there should be more services in the community for patients as they move out of hospital into ongoing care. Healthcare needs to be built around patients, and not focussed on the silos that have grown up within the medical system.

Tagged as: WA, Health Professional

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Christine

Christine talks about the efficiencies available through implementing e-health initiatives and the benefits of electronic health records.

Tagged as: Health Professional, Vic

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Pauline

Pauline believes the health reform process should address a gap that exists in detecting and treating mental health problems in childhood. She says that preventative work early on has the potential to save considerable anxiety and depression in adulthood.

Tagged as: Health Professional, SA

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Karen

Karen looks forward to a greater sharing of information and giving health workers the opportunity to work to their full potential.

Tagged as: Health Professional, NSW

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Nancye

Nancye Piercy, Chief Executive Officer of the Riverina Division of General Practice, is looking forward to improved services that can flow from the electronic medical record, integrated primary health care centres, and more efficient use of health resources by reducing duplication.

Tagged as: Peak body, NSW

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Graham

Graham hopes Australia’s health system will progress from ‘not bad’ to ‘great’ if the reform process is implemented.

Tagged as: Health Professional, NSW

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Gretchen

Gretchen hopes the health reform proposals are being driven by a concern for continuous quality improvement.

Tagged as: Health Professional, SA

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Mike

Dr Mike Beckoff, Chair of General Practice South Australia Incorporated, is pleased with the patient-centric focus of the reform recommendations, and hopes the reforms will result in things being added to the existing GP network that will result in better access for patients.

Tagged as: Health Professional, SA

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Anita

Anita predicts that much better use will be made of the medical and rehabilitation workforces when e-health records become the norm – and patients’ time will be saved, too, by not having to answer the same questions over and over again.

Tagged as: Health Professional, Qld

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Chris

AMA Tasmania's President Dr. Chris Middleton, would like to see a central funding model, with decisions on how the funds are spent made at the hospital level.

Tagged as: Peak body, Tas

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Jackie

Jackie would like to see a partnership arrangement between government, and non government health sectors.

Tagged as: Tas, Health Professional

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Tessa

Tessa, a representative of the Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS), says poor oral health can hold people back socially and economically, as well as being an indicator of other health problems. The proposed Denticare scheme needs to close the gap between the oral health of the well-off and the less well-off in society.

Tagged as: Peak body, NSW

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Trish

Trish hopes for better integration and less duplication in the delivery of allied health care.

Tagged as: Health Professional, NSW

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Nick

Nick proposes the establishment of academic health science centres where research, clinical service and education and training can take place in a single location.

Tagged as: Health Professional, Qld

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Raghu

05 November 2009

Raghu believes there should be more incentives for doctors, and fewer, larger hospitals in rural and regional Australia.

Tagged as: Health Professional, NSW

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Karen

05 November 2009

Karen advocates support for an extended scope of practice for allied health professionals.

Tagged as: Health Professional, ACT

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Ruth

02 November 2009

Ruth is concerned that aged care homes have become less and less attractive to investors and that there could be a ‘massive fallout’ in the sector.

Tagged as: Qld, Health Professional

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Richard

02 November 2009

Richard discusses ways of increasing the amount of time GPs can spend with people in aged care homes, without even starting to increase the workforce.

Tagged as: Health Professional, Qld

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Ian

02 November 2009

Ian explains why he dislikes the use of the term ‘elective surgery’ and why he would like to see more emphasis on the ‘care’ component of community care for aged people

Tagged as: SA, Health Professional

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Terry

29 October 2009

Australia has already had success in preventative health with its road safety and anti-smoking programs – now there’s an opportunity to move on to other areas and become a world leader in prevention.

Tagged as: Health Professional, WA

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Fiona

29 October 2009

Fiona, who runs a community health centre in a rural area, gives examples of how preventative health measures build health awareness and help people deal with potential problems before they become acute.

Tagged as: Tas, Health Professional

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Peter

29 October 2009

Peter supports higher taxes to pay for medical care, and is concerned about doctors “practising in a climate of fear”.

Tagged as: Health Professional, ACT

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Michael

28 October 2009

Michael would like to see continued growth for funding for basic research into mental health disorders.

Tagged as: Health Professional, Qld

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Dimity

26 October 2009

Dimity talks about improving links between allied health and community care to prevent people from being admitted to hospital.

Tagged as: Health Professional, NSW

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Isobelle

23 October 2009

Isobelle is encouraged by proposals to reduce inequities and gaps in the current system, and the possibility of creating a more personalised system.

Tagged as: Health Professional, WA

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Vince

21 October 2009

Vince would like to see better record keeping of medications and the use of electronic health records to avoid repeating the same information.

Tagged as: Community, NSW

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Cathy

19 October 2009

Cathy supports promoting a healthy child population, and also stresses the importance of GPs building ongoing relationships with patients.

Tagged as: Health Professional, SA

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Michael

12 October 2009

Michael would like to see compulsory linkages between major city hospitals and rural hospitals so staff can move between them and information be shared more readily.

Tagged as: ACT, Health Professional

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Jeremy

08 October 2009

Jeremy would like to see a closer cooperation between medical support, health support, and mental health services for homeless people.

Tagged as: SA, Health Professional

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Ian

06 October 2009

Ian talks about the importance of moving primary care to more of a super clinic model supported by e-health records.

Tagged as: ACT, Health Professional

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Julie

02 October 2009

Julie, CEO of a capital city Aboriginal health service, is concerned about the reforms actually being implemented. Among developments she will watch with interest is the makeup of the proposed National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Authority.

Tagged as: ACT, Health Professional

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Hugo

01 October 2009

Hugo is a rural dentist who is concerned about the effect of a Denticare system on rural areas, and would like to see more investment in prevention.

Tagged as: Health Professional, NSW

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Mark

22 September 2009

Mark hopes the shortage of medical personnel for rural communities will be partly overcome by attracting newly graduated people to a team situation, rather than the old model of a GP working by him or her self—and he also sees national benefits from devoting greater resources to medical services in the bush.

Tagged as: NSW, Health Professional

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Gwyneth

16 September 2009

Gwyneth talks about various experiences with the hospital system.

Tagged as: ACT, Community

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Rosemary

12 September 2009

A university researcher, whose studies include access and equity in health care delivery, Rosemary was interviewed after a recent consultation session. She welcomed moves to increase access to specialist, elective, allied health and dental care for people who are less well off.

Tagged as: ACT, Education

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Anne Marie

02 September 2009

Aboriginal Medical Service coordinator Anne Marie has run the Healthy for Life program – a quality improvement program to close gaps in service delivery in existing programs. Her centre’s one-stop shop approach works well, she says, but one challenge is the extent to which clients comply with the advice given to them.

Tagged as: ACT, Health Professional

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Jenny

31 August 2009

The establishment of a primary health care centre in a country NSW town has made all the difference to health service provision, bringing not just the availability of doctors but a strong new emphasis on the prevention of illness.

Tagged as: NSW, Community

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Jacques

26 August 2009

Jacques is a rural GP who would like to see increased training of procedural GPs to take the load off hospitals, and also more rural scholars studying medicine and returning to a rural setting.

Tagged as: NSW, Health Professional

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Beryl

21 August 2009

Beryl, who lives in country NSW, is in favour of more support for travel from rural areas to cities for medical services but believes, wherever possible, the services be made available in the bush.

Tagged as: NSW, Community

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Sophie

21 August 2009

When they moved from Melbourne, Sophie and her husband were shocked by the lack of GPs in their new home of Canberra.

Tagged as: ACT, Community

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Sherrie

19 August 2009

Sherrie is strongly in favour of an increased role for nurse practitioners in medical practices, enabling them to prescribe some medicines and treat less-complex conditions.

Tagged as: NSW, Health Professional

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Jill

13 August 2009

Jill had three days of ‘nil by mouth’ waiting for an operation on her broken arm – the nurses were great but the waiting time was hard.

Tagged as: NSW, Community

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Jennifer

10 August 2009

The importance of not having to endure long waits is emphasised in this interview with Jennifer, who is clearly happy that she has received prompt attention every time she attends for outpatient follow-up.

Tagged as: NSW, Community

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Weicheng

06 August 2009

Weicheng has been in Australia for five years. He is generally satisfied with the health system, but sometimes has to wait for up to two hours at the GP’s surgery, and also finds X-rays and ultrasounds very expensive.

Tagged as: ACT, Community

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Manish

06 August 2009

Manish talks about the waiting time for hospital beds in appropriate wards. He also comments on waiting times to see GPs.

Tagged as: ACT, Community

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Cherie, Henry and Lewis

31 July 2009

Cherie and Henry can see huge advantages from the proposal for electronic health records.

Tagged as: ACT, Community

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Shannon

28 July 2009

Shannon - on the need for more education about birthing options.

Tagged as: Community, Vic

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Claire

28 July 2009

Claire - an aged care specialist, would like seamless transition from aged care to acute care and back again.

Tagged as: Community, Vic

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Claire

Claire - a GP Registrar - talks about the time that could be saved in finding better ways to share information about a patient

Tagged as: Community, Vic

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Prime Minister of Australia

Kevin Rudd introduces the yourHealth website and outlines its purpose.

Tagged as: ACT, Politician

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Mark

Mark - who talks about having diabetes

Tagged as: Community, Vic

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Christopher

Christopher, a working professional, shares his views on the health system

Tagged as: Community, Vic

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Nicky

Nicky - shares her family's experience with an emergency department

Tagged as: Community, Vic

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Minister for Health and Ageing