HOW A SOCIALIZED MEDICINE SYSTEM WORKS

The Morris inquiry into Dr Death will go far beyond events in Bundaberg and investigate claims of bullying, lying, cover-up and vilification of Queensland Health staff in hospitals across the state.... Mr Morris, who has criticised Queensland Health over its attempts to suppress a damning report about reckless and unsafe care of patients at Hervey Bay Hospital, said investigators were focusing on claims of bullying, lying, cover-up and vilification of staff in the health bureaucracy.

Mr Morris foreshadowed recommendations of "possibly sweeping changes" to the administration of Queensland Health. Key issues included allegations of a culture which involved "active discouragement of complaints and reports and bullying of medical and nursing staff to prevent them from making such reports". Mr Morris also added vilification of medical and nursing staff who did complain, concealment of bad news, obfuscation of the truth, use of creative or falsified statistics, and use of "spin" to distract attention from adverse media reports. He said there was a question as to whether Mr Nuttall and his predecessors "have themselves been the victims of this culture - whether they have been prevented from or hampered in discharging their ministerial responsibilities by a department which has consistently lied to them or withheld the facts from them".

The commission, which starts public hearings in Brisbane Magistrate's Court on Monday, will determine the truth of the allegations during an examination of issues surrounding Bundaberg Base Hospital's former director of surgery, Dr Jayant Patel. Dr Patel, who was trained overseas, had been struck off in New York State and Oregon for botched surgery which harmed patients. His shocking track record was not checked or known to Queensland Health authorities until The Courier-Mail last month discovered findings against him published on the Internet.

Source




Welfare reform's unfinished business: "In the 40 years since it was created to provide medical care to the needy, Medicaid has metastasized beyond this narrow purpose. According to the National Association of State Budget Officers, in 2004 Medicaid surpassed elementary and secondary education as the largest item in state budgets, consuming an estimated $309 billion of tax revenue. This would be less of a problem but for the significant portion of its budget that provides coverage to those who could obtain it elsewhere. The problem is not merely (or even principally) fiscal. Like other components of the old welfare system, Medicaid harms many it purports to help by lulling them into dependency. And it constantly draws more Americans toward dependency through an ever-increasing tax burden and higher health-care costs."

***************************

For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL hospitals and health insurance schemes should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the very poor and minimal regulation.

Comments? Email me here. If there are no recent posts here, the mirror site may be more up to date. My Home Page is here or here.

***************************