SA: SA govt supports reform

AAP General News (Australia)
02-16-2009
SA: SA govt supports reform

By Larine Statham

ADELAIDE, Feb 16 AAP - The South Australian government has welcomed the recommended
takeover of primary health care by the federal government, but it says it would not support
a similar bid for hospitals.

SA Health Minister John Hill said many of the recommendations made by the federal government's
health reform body had merit, but said he would reserve definite support for the plan
until after he had a chance to read the report in detail.

"We think the proposition that there should be some sort of dental care scheme to parallel
Medicare would be very worthwhile ... and we think an emphasis on greater primary health
care is absolutely where we should be going," he told AAP.

The commission's key recommendation, handed down on Monday, is that the federal government
assume total responsibility for primary care, that is health care provided outside the
hospital system.

The report stopped short of recommending similar action for the hospital system, only
raising it as an option.

"Obviously we would want to know what they mean by this and how it would operate," Mr Hill said.

The Rudd government has threatened to hold a referendum on whether or not Canberra
should assume control of public hospitals if the states don't lift their game by the middle
of the year.

But it has not made clear the trigger point for such action.

"I don't think (taking over the hospitals) is their preferred option, they want to
get the states and commonwealth to work together to stop blaming each other," Mr Hill
said.

However, state opposition spokeswoman for health, Vickie Chapman, said the health reform
report failed to go far enough and should include hospitals.

Ms Chapman said Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had picked up the "easy parts", left the
states with the "hard parts" and "totally ignored the crisis areas".

"We still have to fund and administer the most difficult part of the health care system
- hospitals," she said in a statement released on Monday afternoon.

Mr Hill said Ms Chapman's comments indicated the state Liberals had given up on the
South Australian hospital system.

"I think it's an admission on their behalf of policy failure and a lack of courage," he said.

"To think that all the hospitals in Australia can be run out of Canberra, I think is absurd.

"There is no way a politician based in Canberra could be sensitive to the needs of
local communities in all of the states."

AAP lcs/jlw/de

KEYWORD: HEALTH SA WRAP

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