POLICY INITIATIVE FOR HEALTH (part 1)
As a leading community located on a major rail network and a community experiencing rapid growth in health care demands, Bundaberg is an excellent site to build a super clinic. Essentially this is a plan to bring together the two health care providers, the public health system and the private health system under the one roof for prompt delivery of health care. There will always be a shortage of doctors in the public health system because many doctors trained in the public system will continue to move to the private system because of the better remuneration and work conditions private practice offers.
It is necessary to ensure that a super clinic built in Hinkler will be planned and designed so that it can continue to grow with the demographic needs. This site must be readily accessible to rail facilities which could be the preferred transport option of the future. In this public hospital precinct, private doctors and specialists will be able to set up their surgeries and operate them as independent facilities as they currently do. Using a roster system, private practices could provide backup doctors to be in place to provide medical care to the public system at peak times such as weekends and after normal hours. With good management, waiting time for health care could be eliminated entirely. Referred patients would be bulk billed. It is also a requirement to ensure that intelligent parking and vehicular flow is incorporated into the concept. It is not unreasonable to expect clients and their families to have convenient all weather access to all of the centre’s facilities.
Funding for a super healthy clinic must be a priority for governments. A country so rich in natural resources has no excuse for neglecting the most disadvantaged of our community. We have a moral responsibility to get this right. If we are to avoid a fractured society in this country, political parties must put aside their differences and work together to make our public health care the envy of the world. Building a modern health system must be a priority. If we do this right we can rein in the crippling costs associated with a malfunctioning health care model.
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