Like what you've read?

On Line Opinion is the only Australian site where you get all sides of the story. We don't
charge, but we need your support. Here�s how you can help.

  • Advertise

    We have a monthly audience of 70,000 and advertising packages from $200 a month.

  • Volunteer

    We always need commissioning editors and sub-editors.

  • Contribute

    Got something to say? Submit an essay.


 The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
On Line Opinion logo ON LINE OPINION - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate

Subscribe!
Subscribe





On Line Opinion is a not-for-profit publication and relies on the generosity of its sponsors, editors and contributors. If you would like to help, contact us.
___________

Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

How the NSW Coalition should govern health

By Jeremy Sammut and David Gadiel - posted Thursday, 12 July 2012


NSW public expenditure on health represents one-third of the entire NSW budget. Despite public hospitals consuming nearly 60% of the high and rapidly growing health spending, elective waiting times have lengthened in NSW compared to other states in the last decade.

The focus of NSW health policy must be to reform the rigid public service monopoly model of public hospital care.

The adoption of private sector methods, including greater involvement of private operators in the delivery of public health service, should be encouraged to enhance productivity and improve access to quality hospital services at the least cost.

Advertisement

The implementation of comprehensive structural reform stalled under the NSW Labor governments from 1995 to 2011. Fledgling privatisations of public hospital services, by experimenting with privately financed projects (PFPs), were discontinued, principally at the bidding of public sector health unions.

PFPs are one of the avenues that have the potential to fundamentally change the traditional role of the NSW government from health service funder and provider of centrally coordinated hospital services to that of health service purchaser.

This has the potential to deliver efficiency gains by creating a market for public hospital care-at least to the extent possible under Medicare. It would oblige competing providers to adopt business axioms (such as a culture of competition, innovation and more customer-focused service delivery) that are usually foreign to public hospitals.

The provider would carry responsibility for a hospital's entire budget, including 'core' clinical services like nurses, doctors and allied health, rather than the purchaser - the state government.

Most importantly, effective managerial autonomy would include the freedom to hire clinical personnel on terms that are relevant and suitable to local conditions.

Centralised control of human resources by NSW Health-the centrepiece of the restrictive public model-means that hospital managers currently lack administrative authority over their clinical workforce.

Advertisement

Statewide nursing awards and prescribed ratios of nurses to patients, combined with the freedom that visiting medical officers and staff specialists exercise over their work practices, deny managers the flexibility to secure efficient and effective care.

By default, the NSW Coalition appears destined to retain a diluted PFP model adopted by Labor in 2001. This limits future PFP outsourcing in health to projects that involve only building services and other so-called 'non-core' support services such as cleaning, catering and maintenance.

Instead, the centrepiece of the Coalition's design for health policy is its necessary but insufficient reform of the governance and management structure of NSW Health.

  1. Pages:
  2. Page 1
  3. 2
  4. All

Jeremy Sammut and David Gadiel have produced a report, 'How the NSW Coalition Should Govern Health: Strategies for Microeconomic Reform' which was published by the CIS this week and is available at www.cis.org.au.



Discuss in our Forums

See what other readers are saying about this article!

Click here to read & post comments.

10 posts so far.

Share this:
reddit this reddit thisbookmark with del.icio.us Del.icio.usdigg thisseed newsvineSeed NewsvineStumbleUpon StumbleUponsubmit to propellerkwoff it

About the Authors

Jeremy Sammut is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies. Jeremy has a PhD in history. His current research for the CIS focuses on ageing, new technology, and the sustainability of Medicare. Future research for the health programme will examine the role of preventative care in the health system and the management of public hospitals. His paper, A Streak of Hypocrisy: Reactions to the Global Financial Crisis and Generational Debt (PDF 494KB), was released by the CIS in December 2008. He is author of the report Fatally Flawed: the child protection crisis in Australia (PDF 341KB) published by the CIS in June 2009.

David Gadiel is an independent health economist with extensive experience of the NSW health system. Read his research by clicking here.

Other articles by these Authors

All articles by Jeremy Sammut
All articles by David Gadiel

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Article Tools
Comment 10 comments
Print Printable version
Subscribe Subscribe
Email Email a friend
Advertisement

About Us Search Discuss Feedback Legals Privacy