It is now quite simple. If the outcome of COAG is as reported – and e-Health has been deferred / cancelled - then the present Federal Health Minister literally has ‘blood on her hands’
The news is as follows.
Colin Barnett says health funding priority for Kevin Rudd
Article from: AAP
November 28, 2008 04:54pm
THE Rudd government's contribution towards health funding is the top priority at a meeting of the nation's leaders, WA Premier Colin Barnett says.
Premiers and chief ministers meet Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Treasurer Wayne Swan at the Council of Australian Government on Saturday.
An $11 billion plus package for hospitals, education and housing was presented to state and territory treasurers on Friday.
Two thirds of the $11 billion is expected to go towards health.
.....
``Two areas of disappointment - it appears that the national partnership program on improving cancer treatment and e-health it looks like that's been pushed into future years or let go,'' Mr Barnett said.
E-health, which would transfer papers and records from GPs to hospitals to electronic form could increase the efficiency of the health system, Mr Barnett said.
Full article here:
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,27574,24721357-2761,00.html
Multiple other reports carry the same comments.
The bottom line is this.
Medical Errors Kill People.
E-Health can prevent some of these. You don’t start implementation and you have to accept the fact your inaction in this area is actually killing people, over time.
Pretty easy to follow.
To get started and make the system systemically a lot safer might have taken a quarter of the planned budget on clinical training and the money would have been well spent.
Just how dare they not provide some small start up funds to start work on implementation of the Deloittes National E-Health Strategy after all the time, effort and money that has been wasted to date! That at least would have been a helpful signal for maybe further funding from the Health Infrastructure Fund early next year.
It seems all the changes at NEHTA have made no difference to the COAG outcome. Those involved should now surely re-consider the place in the e-Health scheme of things..as they have clearly failed in the task they had to persuade Government to invest in e-Health.
Ms Roxon, you are a minister and you then have to accept the consequences of both your actions and inactions. Pity you don’t understand health and the health system.
You have failed on this one!
Before too many die, can I suggest you reconsider.
David.
PS . Nothing personal against the Minister! – this is just a total policy stuff up from the bureaucrats.
D.
PPS. Sorry, and apologies, to all if zillions have been committed and Mr Barnett got it wrong!
D.
4 comments:
I think you are being pretty rough on the Minister. She is absolutely beholden to her bureaucrats. She has very little flexibility. Sure, she can come up with lots of great ideas which she has to float by the public servants. If they don't like her ideas they will tell her so, and suggest an alternative. In the end she has to accept their advice for they are the ones charged with implementing 'her' plans. It shouldn't be too hard for them to put a compelling case to her about not repeating the wrongs of past years, from which they have learned valuable lessons, and following the new and exciting path which is now being blazed.
Sorry, that is just rubbish. The Minister has the power, and the responsibility to set the policy she wants - and the bureaucracy HAVE to comply. That is the way it works.
That is why she can be held accountable - because she can do what she believes is best. That is why we elected her government. In this case she is just dead wrong in my view. And so will too many clients of the health system be.
David.
Ok - let's accept that you are right. How then do you get the message home? How do you get her to understand? How do you counter the bureaucratic ineptitude and incompetent advice upon which she relies?
My view is that it is a matter of the Coalition for e-Health formally presenting a business case to Government that shows the costs, benefits and impact that actually bypasses the upper luddite bureaucracy. The work has been done on this case by both Deloittes and NEHTA and the results are very positive in both cases.
See:
http://www.ceh.net.au/
David
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