Vested interests are the main obstacles to reform, and the voice of the community is the main force for change
Implementation of health care reform is difficult because serious redesign of health care runs immediately into the power of vested interests. I personally witnessed this at the birth of Medicare in the 1970s, when I was Head of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Government archives, both federal and state, are full of health reform proposals that have never been effectively implemented because of the power of these vested interests (see the article by Leeder and Lewis in this series1).
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- Sydney, NSW.
- 1. Leeder SR, Lewis MJ. Learning from past commissions. Med J Aust 2008; 189: 268-269. <MJA full text>
- 2. Menadue J. What is the health service for? Med J Aust 2008; 189: 170-171. <MJA full text>
- 3. Mooney GH. The people principle in Australian health care. Med J Aust 2008; 189: 171-172. <MJA full text>
- 4. Menadue J. Breaking the Commonwealth/State impasse in health: a coalition of the willing. Sydney: Centre for Policy Development, 2007: 3 Mar. http://www.cpd.org.au/article/health-coalition-of-the-willing (accessed Jul 2008).
- 5. Doggett J. A new approach to primary care for Australia. Sydney: Centre for Policy Development, 2007: 6 Jun. http://www.cpd.org.au/paper/new-approach-primary-health-care-australia (accessed Jul 2008).