The Opposition has criticised moves to spend $800,000 on committees to find savings in the Health Department.
The department says that will be the bill for two committees which will identify savings demanded in the state budget.
The department is being forced to reduce its budget by $100 million over the coming year and by $500 million over the next four years.
The committees include department heads and a person seconded from KPMG for 12 months.
The Health Department’s Acting Secretary, Alice Burchill, told a parliamentary hearing that the committees will be funded from within the existing health budget.
Health Minister Michelle O’Byrne has denied they are “razor gangs”.
The State Opposition’s Jeremy Rockliff has slammed the spending as a waste of money.
“This Government never learns,” he said.
“That’s $800,000 that could be directed to front line service delivery.”
He said a $1.3 million study on improving efficiency was conducted only two years ago and was never acted on.
The Minister told the hearing …
Ed: The Health Department has a history of spending on experts: a subject Margaretta Pos has written extensively on: HERE
• Kim Booth:
HEALTH BUDGET SPENDS MONEY TO SAVE MONEY
$800,000 Spent on Internal Business Control Team for $100M Budget Cuts
Kim Booth MP
Greens Member for Bass
Tuesday, 28 June 2011
The Tasmanian Greens today in Budget Estimates hearings called on the Minister for Health, Michelle O’Byrne, to outline the process involved surrounding the alleged “razor gangs” to reach the required $100 million savings from within the health budget.
Greens Member for Bass, Kim Booth MP, said the Business Control Team should be working in conjunction with the community to reassure the public and provide confidence that health services will be maintained to a suitable level.
“Minister O’Byrne has denied claims that the Business Control Unit is a “razor gang”, instead rightly saying that even if $100 million fell out of the sky tomorrow, this process would still need to continue with an ongoing method of best practice savings to allow for improved targeted delivery in preventive health services,” Mr Booth said.
“There is an internal budget of $800,000 of taxpayer funds to make up the Business Control Team, which consists of members from Department of Premier and Cabinet, Departments of Health and Education, as well as Treasury and KPMG, to ensure that the process of cost savings is fair and equitable across the board, and the Greens will hold the Minister to that outcome.”
“The Minister would not rule out any frontline services being cut as a result, and we would encourage the Minister and Business Control Team to ensure that this approach is not taken.”
“The Greens encourage members of the community to contact their local community consultation units at their regional hospitals, to ensure that any savings measures are informed by local expertise and remain in-step with community expectations,” Mr Booth said.
RURAL NURSING SERVICES MUST BE MAINTAINED TO SUPPORT COMMUNITIES
Good Initiatives in Mind, Must be Monitored for Effectiveness to Avoid Wasted Public Funds
Kim Booth MP
Greens Member for Bass
The Tasmanian Greens today called on the Minister for Health, Michelle O’Byrne MP, to detail in Budget Estimates hearings, what action is being undertaken to ensure retention and growth of rural nursing services is maintained, given the budget challenges ahead and the fact that the current average age of rural nurses in Tasmania is over 50 years old.
Greens Member for Bass, Kim Booth MP, said in a state like Tasmania, appropriate regional and rural health professionals are essential for the ongoing safety and well-being of the many small towns located around the State.
“Currently the average age of the State’s rural nurses is over 50 years old, so we do need a plan for attracting and retaining these essential workers,” Mr Booth said.
“Minister O’Byrne today in Budget Estimates hearings detailed a plan to “grow local therapists” through such things as increasing graduate nurse positions to rural areas.”
“The health spokespeople could not confirm whether additional Clinical Nurse Educator (CNE) positions agreed in the nurses Heads of Agreement document would be committed to with the current budget, raising concern that placing junior staff into already under resourced areas may place additional undue pressure on current staff.”
“We need to ensure that we don’t pump millions of dollars into well intended programs for professionals here, but who then use that as a spring board to run to the mainland or overseas benefiting from the taxpayer dollar.”
“There needs to be proper data recording, as well as regular reports, to ensure in these tough budget times that public money is not wasted.”
“Given that there is money coming from a series of partnerships worth some $12 million, the Department of Health and Human Services must use it transparently and equitably under a best practice method, to ensure the retention of health services in rural and regional Tasmania,” Mr Booth said.
BENEFITS OF ENERGY-EFFICIENT HOSPITALS SURPISE HEALTH MINISTER
Other States Moving In This Positive Direction
Kim Booth MP
Greens Member for Bass
The Tasmanian Greens revealed the lack of progress in the State’s healthcare system when they asked the Health Minister in today’s Budget Estimates about progress towards energy-efficient hospitals, saying these are good for patients, reducing costs and that other states are moving to increase the energy efficiency of their healthcare facilities for these reasons.
Greens Member for Bass, Kim Booth MP, said energy-efficient hospitals were a no-brainer and that the redevelopment of the Royal Hobart Hospital presented a huge opportunity to implement energy efficiency savings that improved patient wellbeing and saved the health department money.
“This is the way of the future and what the Greens stand for but Tasmania lags behind other states on this, and that’s not good for patient care or the healthcare budget, especially in touch economic times,” Mr Booth said.
“Bruny Island Health Centre received the Tasmanian Government’s Environmental Award but this seemed to be news to the Health Minister. Boasting solar panels, wind turbines and other clever energy efficiencies, Bruny’s health centre saves money without compromising on patient care.”
“The Victorian Government is investing $7.2 million in improving energy efficiency of its hospitals because the benefits outway its investment, which will deliver wider benefits than just reduced utility bills, including improved staff productivity, increased staff retention and better patient outcomes.”
“Improving the quality of the indoor environment has been found to improve staff and patient health and satisfaction, as well as improving patient recovery times, through things such as maximising natural light exposure and careful design of air flow systems.”
“And green hospitals are something backed by nurses, too. The Australian Nurses Federation recently released a paper entitled “Tasmanian Public Sector Cost Saving Initiatives”, which included a raft of energy-saving measures.”
“But despite energy efficient hospitals being common sense, it’s still news to the State Government. To help it catch up with everyone else who has grasped this reality, the Greens will be doggedly pursuing this,” Mr Booth said.
30 PER CENT OF CHRONIC HEALTH COSTS CAN BE PREVENTED
Alcohol Places Huge Pressure on Emergency Departments Across the State
Kim Booth MP
Greens Member for Bass
The Tasmanian Greens today raised in the Health Budget Estimates hearings that 80 per cent of health issues presented at hospitals were chronic, and of that, 30 per cent were preventable had proper preventative health measures been implemented.
Greens Member for Bass, Kim Booth MP, said Federal Treasury modelling that has concluded that by 2045-46, spending on health and hospitals would consume the entire revenue raised by State Governments.
“Strategic investment in preventative health measures, especially to tackle smoking and alcohol related ‘illnesses’, is both a win for public health, and a win for reducing health costs,” Mr Booth said.
“Preventing illnesses in the first place, clearly then also reduces the demands on intellectual health resources, facilities and emergency departments.”
“Director of Public Health, Dr Roscoe Taylor, confirmed during the hearings that chronic and preventable illnesses consume valuable time and resources, with around 8 per cent attributed to smoking, and 8 per cent related to alcohol.”
“Dr Taylor also detailed that alcohol-related problems being presented in emergency departments put huge demand on acute medical staff, demonstrates again an area that could be addressed by an increased focus on preventative health measures.’
“A Community Support Levy style program, as currently used for pokie machines, would be a good first step in redirecting alcohol-related fines into preventative health measures to curb this ongoing health issue.”
“It is clear that preventative health initiatives are an area that needs to be prioritised if Tasmania is not to fall into the problematic forecast from Federal Treasury, especially considering many of the cases being dealt with by our emergency rooms can be prevented,” Mr Booth said.
NORTH AND NORTH WEST RENAL SERVICES LET DOWN BY BUDGET
Patient Turned Away as Satellite Renal Unit at Capacity on North West Coast
Kim Booth MP
Greens Member for Bass
Tuesday, 28 June 2011
The Tasmanian Greens today highlighted findings in the State Renal Plan which identifies that care requirements for people with kidney disease is going to escalate beyond what the State can afford, unless funding allocation is targeted and prioritised.
Greens Member for Bass, Kim Booth MP, said that the State Plan for Renal Services asserts that health departments annually spend as much as 25 per cent of their health budget on patients with chronic and end-stage renal failure, and suggests that this parallels the Tasmanian experience.
Mr Booth also said the excellent work being done by staff at the North West Renal Unit in transferring patients from expensive in-centre dialysis to less expensive home therapies is to be commended, and it would make sense to prioritise resources to support staff to continue this important work.
“The State Renal Report has identified that changing the mix of modalities from in-centre therapies towards more home-based therapies could deliver savings estimated at $16.2 million, as well as quality of life improvements for patients,” Mr Booth said.
“It is encouraging that there has been some progress towards improving home-therapies support in the South, but again the North and North West are missing out, and as a result the Minister may not achieve these significant cost savings, as well as enhance targeted care delivery.”
“The State Renal Health Plan details current resource inequities across Tasmania which significantly disadvantage Northern and North-West patients and staff, so it is disappointing that service improvements are still being focussed mostly in the South of the State.” [1]
“Minister O’Byrne denied today that North West service provision has been effected by these service disparities, however Paul O’Halloran MP recently wrote to the Minister’s Office to highlight the plight of a North-West patient being warned that he might shortly need to consider travelling to Launceston for dialysis due to resource shortages in the North West satellite renal unit, and this is simply unacceptable,” Mr Booth said.
Download: Letter to Minister O’Byrne regarding renal patient on North West, Paul O’Halloran (2 pgs): Tas_Greens_MR_Renal_Services_Lacking_on_North_West_Under_Budget_K_Booth_ATTACH.pdf
Reference: [1] State Renal Plan, pg 90 (table 4) http://www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/about_the_department/our_plans_and_strategies/state_plan_for_renal_services_2010_-_2020
TOBACCO ACTION PLAN NOT GIVEN BUDGET PRIORITY FUNDING
Minister Admits Smoking Rates in Tasmania Are Still Too High
Paul ‘Basil’ O’Halloran MP
Greens Health spokesperson
The Tasmanian Greens today pressured the Minister for Health, Michelle O’Byrne, to commit to implementing the Tobacco Action Plan.
Greens Health spokesperson Paul ‘Basil’ O’Halloran MP said with no extra funding available, and the Tobacco Action Plan will need to be professional within the existing Population Health budget, and as a preventative health measure will also be a wise investment in long term savings for the community.
“Labor had committed to continue to fund social marketing campaigns from a base of 400 to an average of 700 Targeted Audience Rating Points (TARPS) per month annually. Campaigns must create public awareness and personalise the health risks of smoking,” Mr O’Halloran said.
“Minister O’Byrne admitted that although average TARPS per month are above 734 with bolstering from federal campaigns, state-wide TARPS are still sitting on 536, which is below what is recommended in the Tobacco Action Plan.”
“The evidence is mounting regarding the imperative to act with research released recently addressing poor cardiac outcomes for children whose mother smokes during pregnancy.”
“The Minister also admitted that smoking rates are still too high, and it is very disappointing that more targeted resourcing has not been allocated,” Mr O’Halloran said.
