The Rudd hospital plan — many pitfalls to avoid  on the way to a better health system

Eagar, Kathy

doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2010.tb03614.x

Topics

We are waiting for the details — without these the plan will fail

The Rudd hospital reform plan1 could be better. That said, it does have the potential to be a significant improvement over what we have now. No doubt it would be better to have one level of government assume 100% of health funding. But that was never going to happen. So it’s time to accept that and move on.

Centre for Health Service Development, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW.

Correspondence: keagar@uow.edu.au

1. Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. A National Health and Hospitals Network for Australia’s future. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia, 2010. http://www.yourhealth.gov.au/internet/yourhealth/publishing.nsf/Content/nhhn-report-toc/$FILE/NHHN%20-%20Full%20report.pdf (accessed Mar 2010, link updated Apr 2010).
2. NSW Health. Resource distribution formula. Technical paper, 2005 revision. Sydney: NSW Health, 2005. http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/pubs/2005/rdf_paper.html (accessed Mar 2010).
3. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Australia's environment: issues and trends, Jan 2010. Canberra: ABS, 2010. (ABS Cat. No. 4613.0.) http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4613.0Chapter20Jan +2010 (accessed Mar 2010).
4. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Australian hospital statistics 2007–08. Health Services Series no. 33. Canberra: AIHW, 2009. (AIHW Cat. No. HSE 71.)
5. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Population distribution, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 2006. Canberra: ABS, 2007. (ABS Cat. No. 4705.0.) http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4705.0 Main+Features12006?OpenDocument (accessed Mar 2010).

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