Rural Doctors’ groups support The Nationals on hospitals plan
4th January, 2008
The Nationals’ plan to fix local hospitals has received a boost - with rural health groups supporting the approach, Federal Member for Wide Bay, Warren Truss, said today.
Mr Truss said that as we move into National Rural Health Action Week, the importance of restoring faith and services in our local hospitals has never been more important.
“The Nationals in Coalition have a plan to stop Labor’s downgrading of our local hospitals and restore health services,” Mr Truss said.
“Our plan will bypass the State Labor health bureaucracy by setting up local boards to manage our hospitals, and providing them with tied federal funding. The Nationals will also increase the number of doctors, nurses and other health professionals in the regions.
“Queensland Labor has failed on health and hospitals in Wide Bay and will fall into an even worse position if Rudd Labor is elected.
“The Bligh Labor Government has cut funding and local health services. Rudd Labor’s disastrous approach to health is to make the situation worse by setting up another big health bureaucracy in Canberra.
“We don’t need more bureaucrats. We need more doctors, nurses and local health services and a change in culture — one that The Nationals will deliver.
“According to the Sunday-Mail, two-thirds of all new appointments at Queensland public hospitals are non-medical. This statistic is farcical!” Mr Truss said.
The Nationals are encouraging more health professionals into rural and regional areas through programs which include bonded places, rural scholarships, HECS waivers, relocation and retention payments and the recent expansion of the Rural Medical Infrastructure Fund. There will be 500 new medical school places in 2007, rising to 600 by 2011.
Mr Truss said that the Coalition Government is spending $51.8 billion on health this year, compared to only $19.5 billion in Labor’s last budget — even allowing for inflation, that is an 88 per cent increase.
“Rudd Labor has nothing new to offer, only failure on a grander scale than we have already seen from the states,” he said.
