Qld: Surgery plan labelled a band aid solution

AAP General News (Australia)
04-05-2007
Qld: Surgery plan labelled a band aid solution

By Rosemary Desmond

BRISBANE, April 5 AAP - Doctors and the Queensland opposition say a move by the state
government to send public patients to private hospitals for elective surgery is a band-aid
solution to cut waiting lists.

Health Minister Stephen Robertson today announced the state government would throw
the surgery waiting lists open to tender, allowing around 10,000 Queensland public hospital
patients to have their operations sooner at a cost of $8.5 million.

The service, called Surgery Connect, will target elective surgery for procedures such
as hip and knee replacements, hysterectomies and corrective eye surgery.

"Queenslanders who have been identified as waiting too long for their elective surgery
will be offered to this brokerage service, who will then go around private hospitals to
see who is prepared to take that patient," Mr Robertson said.

Private sector doctors already perform elective surgery at the federal government's
Department of Veteran Affairs (DVA) rate of payment.

Mr Robertson said there was no reason why they should not do the same surgery on public
hospital patients for the same money.

But opposition health spokesman John-Paul Langbroek said it was not a permanent solution
to the long-standing problem.

"The fact is if the state government can afford to spend millions of dollars on beds
in private hospitals, with a little foresight they could have afforded the staff and resources
that would have prevented the waiting list blow-out in the first place," Mr Langbroek
said.

"This is not a problem that has appeared overnight."

He said today's announcement was timed to coincide with the release soon of Queensland
Health's quarterly report card on elective surgery waiting lists.

About 160 of the most urgent category one patients were waiting longer than 30 days,
while there were also between 3,000 and 3,300 rated as category two and around 6,000 to
6,600 in the least urgent category three.

Doctors have also given the government's plan the thumbs down.

AMA Queensland (AMAQ) president-elect Ross Cartmill said morale in the public hospital
system would suffer under the new system.

"We feel very strongly that it's the doctors working in the public sector who should
be doing any of the surgery," Dr Cartmill said.

"Secondly, we've made it very clear that they are training the trainees - the doctors
of tomorrow.

"If you want to undermine the morale of the public hospital system, that's the way to do it."

Expressions of interest for the public tender close on May 9.

AAP rad/pjo/jm/mn

KEYWORD: SURGERY NIGHTLEAD

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