Three-quarters of doctors believe the state's public hospitals have not
become a better place to work in the past six months and 71 per cent say the
health service has cut clinical staff, according to the survey of 510
doctors.There were still severe bed and staff shortages, unacceptable surgery delays, bullying by managers when doctors claimed overtime or raised patient safety issues and ''misrepresentation'' of performance data, the survey found.
Only 6 per cent felt there had been a positive change in workplace culture, and
many felt it had worsened. And 68 per cent said they had not seen efforts by
management to seek doctors' input in decision-making, despite ''many layers of
committees''.
''The picture that emerges is a system under financial and cultural stress -
clinicians and management alike are increasingly finding it difficult to deliver
what brought them into the system in the first place - quality patient care,''
he said. ''The single biggest risk'' to reform was the divide between clinicians
and management.
In the survey, doctors repeatedly complained of patient
safety issues, including people being discharged before they were fully
recovered.
http://www.smh.com.au/national/doctors-sick-of-failure-to-fix-ailing-hospitals-20091118-imjr.html
News about rodent and insect infestation at a public hospital in the upper northshore of Sydney metro area came as a shock to many residents. In addition, the report highlighted complaints by hospital staff of cracks on walls and leaky roofs public hospital building , delay in purchase of screening equipment, and that the very modest requirements of medical care have not been met. Even the best patient care could not make up for the poor facilities.
Many have lost faith in the public healthcare and go straight to private hospitals without a second thought. But that would mean paying hefty medical bills that the average Aussie family struggling with mortgage repayments, daily expenses of raising a family, rising cost of living and education, could ill afford to foot.
Health Insurance
A small family of four could incur more than $200 per month in basic private insurance which covers the bare minimum of ambulance service and hospitalisation stay.
The only good news and consolation to the less well-to-do Australian families is that the current PM Kevin Rudd would top up private outpatient medical costs not covered by Medicare and private insurance once the amount reaches certain graduated thresholds tied to household income and affordability.
The root of the problem lies in years of non-chalance with public well being and careless use of funds under the previous Carr premiership in the state of NSW. When it came to the crunch, mindless cost-cutting measures were implemented such as cutting staff hours, purchasing inferior quality inventory, but end up paying more as in the case of "penny wise pound foolish" because such short-sighted "solutions" did not meet the needs of offering decent health care.
After many reports of failures in duty of care due to overworked staff and hospital facilities breaking at the seams, some health centres are finally adopting what some developing countries practice to offer triage attendance to patients who need immediate medical attention.
WALK-in clinics allowing patients to seek faster treatment from a nurse
practitioner will be set up in public hospitals around Australia, starting with
a $10million centre at Canberra Hospital.
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