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First Comparative Health Information under Australian Reforms
The first baseline data required under the Rudd Government’s health reforms has been publicly released by the independent COAG Reform Council (CRC).
Prior to the Rudd Government’s election there were few accurate national measures by which the performance of our whole health system could be judged.
This baseline report details the period before the new National Healthcare Agreement into effect and illustrates the lack of information available under the previous Government’s arrangements.
Never before in Australia has such an ambitious approach to performance monitoring been attempted with the associated high level of disclosure and public accountability.
The CRC makes a number of findings and recommendations on data that the Government will consider as part of its National Health and Hospitals Network reforms - ensuring that the important work on developing better data continues to be undertaken.
Despite these limitations, this baseline report sets the benchmarks against which the progress of all Australian governments to deliver better health and better hospitals will be measured.
This data reveals that our health system is struggling to meet key performance indicators in some areas and that the quality of health care and health outcomes is inconsistent across the country.
A core element of the National Health and Hospitals Network will be strong national standards and transparent reporting that is nationally consistent, and locally relevant.
The health reforms agreed to by all States and Territories except Western Australia will improve many of the benchmarks reported on by the COAG Reform Council, such as emergency department and elective surgery waiting times
As part of delivering a National Health and Hospitals Network, the Rudd Government is adding to its earlier investments with more than:
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- $750 million to cap emergency department waiting times at 4 hours and expand facilities
- $800 million for additional elective surgery procedures and to expand capacity, so that by 2015 95 per cent of surgery will be delivered within clinically recommended times.
Other issues raised by the report are being tackled. For example, the Rudd Government’s takeover and increased investment in primary care services will help relieve the pressure on hospitals and will improve overall performance of the health system.
Our determination to reduce the higher cancer mortality rates of Australians who live in rural and regional areas via our $560 million Regional Cancer Centres investment is clear. This network of new regional cancer centres will expand services and links with specialised cancer centres in metropolitan areas to better support and service all Australians and help close the gap in cancer outcomes between urban and regional Australians.
The Rudd Government is taking decisive action to cut Australia’s smoking rate, with a comprehensive package of anti-smoking measures including the world’s first plain packaging regime, increasing the tobacco excise, providing $85 million for anti-smoking campaigns and $5 million extra for Quitline services. The tobacco excise alone is estimated to reduce the consumption of tobacco by 6 percent and the number of smokers by 2-3 per cent, or 87,000 people.
The report confirms the poor health outcomes for Indigenous Australians, something the Rudd Government moved to address shortly after its election. A record $1.6 billion has been provided to help close the gap in life expectancy and health outcomes for Indigenous Australians, with the Commonwealth’s contribution increasing by more than 87 per cent since its election. In particular, more than $805.5 million is targeting chronic diseases and its risk factors including smoking, poor nutrition and lack of exercise.
In signing up to the Rudd Government’s National Health and Hospitals Network, States and Territories have agreed to provide improved and expanded data, with an independent process in place to facilitate the collection of that data.
States and Territories do not receive initial funding for capital investments if they do not agree in writing to provide this information, and reward payments will only made when this data clearly indicates their performance against targets. Further, specific fund holding arrangements ensures that States will not be able to skim off money allocated for health and hospitals, while activity based funding will provide certainty that taxpayers are only paying for efficient and cost effective services.
A new National Performance Authority will monitor and report on the performance of Local Hospital Networks, individual hospitals and Medicare Locals – with Hospital Performance Reports and Healthy Communities Reports providing clear and more transparent reporting on acute hospital and GP and primary care performance.
The Rudd Government will also establish the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care as a permanent body to set national quality and safety standards.
The Government welcomes this first report from the COAG Reform Council as it works to reform the health system and deliver better health and better hospitals for all Australians.