A LONG-ESTABLISHED PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM EVOLVES TO NEAR-TOTAL MELTDOWN

With 75% of Departmental employees being paper-shufflers rather than doctors and nurses, this is what you expect

Front-line administration staff at hospitals and and medical clinics are facing unprecedented abuse from the public. Clerical staf: are being spat on, threatened with violent attacks and subjected to tirades as patients vent their frustration with the failing Queensiand health system.

In one shocking example, a female staff member at a Gold Coast medical clinic was asked: "Do you want a smack in the mouth"? when she told a male patient his X-ray could not be bulk-billed.

Last year, emergency department staff at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane threatened strike action after patients, upset at long waiting times threatened them with knives and pot-plants.

The situation has become so bad the Australian Services Union - which represents about 2000 of the 7000 administrative staff working in Queensland hospitals - held a private briefing with State Health Minister Stephen Robertson a week ago to demand a solution.

Union members have vowed to use the issue to demand increased pay rates during enterprise bargaining negotiations. In its submission to the Morris inquiry, the ASU said health professionals working "at the front line inside hospitals, community health clinics and in primary health care locations" were feeling the most pressure on services. "There's no doubt our members are in the front line," said ASU state secretary Julie Bignell. "We've had members regularly abused, spat upon and threatened."

The submission said understaffing was regarded as "business as usual" in Queensland Health "across all occupation groups, including administrative staff".

More-understanding patients say they feel ashamed at the abuse dished out to clerical staff. Burleigh resident Jackie Moore said it had become a health problem in itself: "Symptomatic of the failing health system in Queensland is the verbal abuse and aggression that staff at some of these branches have to confront on a daily basis, as appointment times are stretched to the limit and waiting time is increased."

The above article by PAUL WESTON appeared in the Brisbane "Sunday Mail" on August 28, 2005


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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL hospitals and health insurance schemes should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the very poor and minimal regulation. Both Australia and Sweden have large private sector health systems with government reimbursement for privately-provided services so can a purely private system with some level of government reimbursement or insurance for the poor be so hard to do?

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