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 Home News General
No cuts to hospital budgets01 September 2003State and territory leaders cannot cut health budgets despite being forced to accept a sub-standard funding deal from the federal government, the Health Services Union said today. Health ministers around the country yesterday finally agreed to the five year $42 billion funding agreement for public hospitals. Most said the only reason they signed was because of the threat of reductions in their funding allocation if they did not. HSU national secretary Craig Thomson said it was typical of the federal government's approach to health that it had bullied states and territories into signing an agreement on the most pressing issue facing the nation. "The opportunity for major reform of the health system has been lost now. Instead of sitting down to negotiate we have had a process where the states and territories have been told to sign or else lose money," he said. "It is a terrible way to deal with the crisis which is affecting all public hospitals as emergency departments get busier by the day and waiting lists for elective surgery lengthen." Mr Thomson said he was concerned by reports that the states and territories would have to consider cutting spending on health due to the shortfall in funding under the federal deal. "Everyone knows they did not get as much as they wanted but it is imperative that cuts are not made to frontline services in health," Mr Thomson said. "They must look at ways to allieviate the pressure on public hospitals not increase it." |
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© 2003 Health Services Union (HSU) |
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