Tuesday 5 May 2009

COALITION HAS POSITIVE PRACTICAL PLANS TO FIX HEALTH: DELLA BOSCA HAS FAILED SPIN

The NSW Liberal/Nationals have a positive practical plan, supported by doctors and experts, to fix the problems caused by Labor’s Area Health Services, Shadow Minister for Health Jillian Skinner said today.

“Opposition Leader Barry O’Farrell and I launched the NSW Liberal/Nationals ‘Making it Work’ health policy more than a month ago, and it has been well received by medical professionals and local communities,” Mrs Skinner said.

“Our policy will put patients first, and deliver the quality health services and infrastructure families deserve,” she said.

“We will remove Labor’s failed Area Health Services and replace them with smaller, community-focussed Health Districts to improve management of the State’s health system,” she said.

“Labor’s Area Health Services have failed. It’s time to remove them and reorganise health management in NSW.

“Setting up smaller Health Districts will create a flatter administrative structure, restore honesty to the system through district boards, and remove an entire layer of Labor’s bureaucratic red tape.

“Our policy is all about getting administrators and managers out of ivory towers and putting them on the frontline to support our health workforce; it is cost neutral.”

The NSW Liberal/Nationals six-step plan to improve health services by refocussing the management of the department across NSW will:

Remove Labor’s huge and out-of-touch Area Health Services and create smaller, community-focussed Health Districts;
Appoint Boards to the Health Districts and make them accountable to their community;
Restore the decision-making power of Hospital General Managers and give authority and decision making back to expert clinicians;
Further develop clinical networks to link medical experts across the State;
Appoint qualified medical practitioners as Executive Clinical Directors in each Health District; and
Publish information about health service management including budget allocations, spending, medical errors, infections and other patient outcomes;

“John Della Bosca’s pathetic efforts show he’s out of touch with local communities, focused on spin over real solutions and highlights that Labor has failed to fix our hospitals after 14 years in government,” Mrs Skinner said.