Taxpayers have forked out an extra $94 million for pen-pushers in WA's beleaguered health system since Labor came to power. While thousands of patients are waiting for surgery and Treasurer Eric Ripper has threatened tax rises because of a health spending blow-out, the Government has employed an extra 604 administration staff. There are now nearly three times as many health bureaucrats earning $80,000 or more - 435 in 2005 compared with 148 in 2001.
Opposition health spokesman Kim Hames said it was disgraceful that the extra funding, which could have employed 1700 nurses or provided more doctors and hospital beds, had gone to bureaucrats. "It's an administration out of control caused by mismanagement and the blame lies at (Health Minister) Jim McGinty's feet," he said. There are now 6297 health bureaucrats compared with 5693 in 2001, despite former premier Geoff Gallop's promise of a leaner public sector. Their wages cost $299 million of the $3.6 billion health budget. Dr Hames said he was amazed that in the past financial year there was $20 million extra spent on bureaucrats and $17 million of that had gone to 190 additional staff earning $80,000 or more. "How many hip replacements and knee replacements would that fund?" he said. There was a desperate need for more nurses, but Mr McGinty had rejected his repeated calls for a nursing summit to address the issue. The Government claimed it had reduced surgery waiting lists down from about 18,000 two years ago to about 15,000, but he believed figures had been manipulated. He estimated another 31,000 were waiting to see specialists, with a view to being put on a waiting list for surgery.
Australian Medical Association WA president Paul Skerritt said priority had been put on the Government's long-term overhaul of the health system, but day-to-day management was being neglected. Acting Health Department director-general John de Campo took the heat for Mr McGinty, who is overseas, saying the number of public clinical staff employed between 2001 and 2005 far outweighed the increase in administrative staff. He said in June, 2005, there were 22,094 doctors, nurses and health staff in the public health system compared with 18,508 in June 2001.
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The Queensland public health system shows it arrogance and incompetence once again
Two paramedics who said they were unable to treat a youth because he was so drunk and obnoxious have been punished by their Queensland Ambulance Service bosses. Sources told The Sunday Mail that frontline staff were furious at the disciplinary measures taken by management. Ambulance staff said that they believed the officers were "in the right". One of the officers recently quit in disgust, accusing the QAS internal investigators of "intimidation and standover tactics."
The incident happened on the Sunshine Coast early this year after a young man who had been drinking was punched in the head during a brawl. The paramedics said the drunken man refused a proper assessment of his injury and would not let them take him to hospital. They say the man's sober girlfriend agreed to keep watch on him and take him to a doctor. But the man later complained to Emergency Services that he had been "refused" proper treatment. He said officers simply put a butterfly clip on a badly cut lip and sent him home, and he needed to get hospital treatment for a head wound the next day.
The paramedics were condemned by the QAS probe and given three-month "diminished performance" reports, which reduced their responsibilities. "One experienced paramedic has been forced to resign . . . they were subjected to a completely intimidating investigation that was protracted over many weeks," a source said. He said that investigators had overlooked evidence about the man's drunken behaviour. "All of these facts were reported in the patient report form," the source said.
The Sunday Mail reported a similar case late last year, which resulted in a paramedic being investigated by the Crime and Misconduct Commission after a doctor, who was arrested for drunken behaviour, claimed the ambo refused to treat him. The paramedic was disciplined by QAS bosses and could face criminal charges. Angry ambulance colleagues rallied to his support. "A professional doctor behaves like a drunken hooligan, gets arrested for assault, refuses to be assessed and puts a paramedic through all this," said one ambo. The CMC is still investigating the doctor's complaint.
Ambulance Employees Australia union secretary Steve Crow said paramedics were advised not to put themselves in danger. They had "zero tolerance" to violence from intoxicated patients. "At the end of the day, if people do not want to be treated, you cannot chase them up the road forever," he said. A spokeswoman for Ambulance Commissioner Jim Higgins said the Sunshine Coast matter had been investigated and "internally managed." [So that's what you call bullying!] She declined to comment further.
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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. Both Australia and Sweden have large private sector health systems with government reimbursement for privately-provided services so can a purely private system with some level of government reimbursement or insurance for the poor be so hard to do?
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