Public Hospitals under pressure

Australian Medical Association

Dr Khorshid this week drew attention to our struggling public hospital system, telling media that there was "nothing" in the Budget to help our public hospitals.

"Although, yes the Government is spending 45 per cent of the cost of running public hospitals, and they seem to think that absolves them of any responsibility for how they're run, every State and Territory has public hospitals in crisis," Dr Khorshid told the SMH.

The AMA used its post-budget media interviews, as well as coverage in The Sunday Age, The Sun-Herald, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald to draw further attention for the need for a national fix of the funding and resourcing of our hospitals.

Shadow Health Minister Mark Butler told media that issues including ambulance stuck in hospital emergency queues waiting to offload patients were rife throughout the country.

Sadly, the effects of ambulance ramping were clearly delineated with the release of a report into the death of a young girl forced to wait two hours for treatment at a Perth hospital's emergency department on Easter Saturday in April.

Dr Khorshid told Sky News that if Australia's biggest challenge going forward to open our borders was to resource our public hospitals which are struggling even without high numbers of flu, or COVID.

"We have a public hospital system right now that is bursting at the seams, it is overrun with really sick Australians who can't get in the front door, they're ramped in ambulances outside hospitals."

/AMA/AusMed News. This material from the originating organization/author(s) might be of the point-in-time nature, and edited for clarity, style and length. Mirage.News does not take institutional positions or sides, and all views, positions, and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s).