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The Australian is reporting: Canberra offers carrot for health reform
July 14, 2006
Quote:
JOHN Howard will today offer state premiers a further 200 medical school training places nationwide to address the country's chronic doctor shortages in the hope of winning agreement on a wider package of health reforms.
The new university places will be in addition to the 400 places announced in April, taking the value of the commitment to about $120 million over four years.
However, the Prime Minister has made clear the offer is conditional on the states agreeing at today's Council of Australian Governments meeting to increase hospital funding to ensure that there are enough resources to give all the extra students the necessary training time in hospital during their course.
They will also have to ensure there are intern jobs available for them after graduation.
Mr Howard said while Victoria had already given a public funding guarantee to ensure proper clinical training, other states had made "some vaguer and less convincing" undertakings.
If agreement is reached today there will also be more than 1000 extra nursing training places and 573 places for other health-related workers, in disciplines such as podiatry, dentistry and physiotherapy. The medical school places would be phased in between 2007 and 2011.
NSW Premier Morris Iemma said the commonwealth's package was "laudable" but he believed more was needed to be done. The Productivity Commission's forecasts for additional medical professionals was still 10 times what was being planned, he said.
Under Mr Howard's plan, the federal Government would provide an extra $48.5 million in new capital funding for universities - including $15 million for James Cook University in Queensland and $7.5 million to the University of Queensland - provided state governments matched those funds.
Mr Howard has also outlined an ambitious list of health goals he would like the meeting to reach agreement on.
These include developing specific measures focusing on "a major national effort to overcome diabetes" and improving the health of indigenous children.
In order to facilitate workforce mobility, improve safety and quality, and reduce red tape, COAG has agreed to establish by July 2008 a single national registration scheme for health professionals, beginning with the nine professions currently registered in all jurisdictions.
More University places for podiatry offered by Howard?
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