The ACT Government is to be commended
for putting people first in this budget. They have taken the decision to absorb the
cuts made by the Federal Government and have crafted a budget that delivers
modest expansion of health services.
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| ACT Budget Papers |
The ACT Government have taken the
decision to absorb the cuts announced in the recent Federal Budget. These cuts are by no means small. Treasurer
Barr today outlined that more than $500m has been written off the ACT income from
2014-15 until 2017-18. This is due to a downturn in the housing market which
will result in less land being sold for development ($250m over four years) and
also the Federal Government walking away from the National Health Reform Agreements
($248m over four years).
The Treasurer outlined that the
Commonwealth is not only the major employer in the Territory but is also a
large consumer of goods and services. The cuts announced in the Federal Budget will
see between 6000 and 6500 full time jobs disappear (2.9% of employment in the
ACT). This will have flow on effects to the Canberra economy.
The Treasurer stressed that unlike
other jurisdictions, including the Commonwealth, the ACT Government does not
borrow money to fund recurrent operating expenses and that they run a cash
surplus every year. They only borrow for
infrastructure projects that add to the asset base of the Territory. And this
budget does contain infrastructure spending for the health sector.
This budget has allocated funds for more
general inpatient beds at both Canberra and Calvary Hospitals (15 beds). The 31
beds announced at Canberra Hospital includes 15 beds that were funded in 2013-14.
This is welcome news. We continue to see more people presenting at the Emergency
Department requiring admission and Canberra Hospital has been under significant
pressure, routinely operating at over 90% capacity. There is also provision for
additional staff at Canberra Hospital to support the opening of these beds which
is good news, as you can’t open beds without having staff in place.
Hospital in the Home (HITH) which
looks at caring for inpatients in their home will also have the service
increased by six ‘beds’.
There is also funding to support two
new emergency department physicians one for Canberra Hospital and one for
Calvary. This is hoped to decrease waiting time in emergency.
The Walk in Centres are a great
addition to our health system and provide affordable, appropriate care to
consumers. This budget allocates funds for the operation of a new Walk in Centre
at the Belconnen Health Centre.
There is also an announcement of about
$9m for the expansion of outpatient services including a focus on chronic pain
management. People living with persistent and chronic pain are not serviced
well by our existing services and this allocation will make a difference.
There is also a modest increase to
delivering intensive care at both public hospitals with two more beds at
Canberra Hospital and another bed at Calvary Public Hospital. Canberra Hospital is the tertiary referral hospital for Canberra and the Capital Region and this
will go some way to meeting the ongoing demand for these important services.
Calvary Health Care ACT will receive
ongoing funding of $1.5m for the Birth Centre to continue. This is welcome news as
the Birth Centre complements the Canberra Midwifery Program that runs at the Centenary
Hospital for Women and Children in Garran.
This follows the launch of the
Obesity Management Services, which is a community based service to support
people with a BMI of more than 40. An extension of this program is the
provision of publically funded bariatric surgery. This amounts to just over $1m
over four years and modelling suggests this will enable thirteen people to have
the surgery each year. This will make a significant difference to their lives and
complement the important work of the Obesity Management Service.
We will see the opening of the Capital
Region Cancer Service early in the new financial year. The opening of this
services has been delayed due to a burst water pipe, but work has almost finished to
rectify this and we see $8.5m made available to deliver services. Provision has also been made for an expansion
of the lymphedema services at Calvary Hospital, with $1.9m funding over
four years and new three staff positions to support this. This service is important in supporting people, mostly women, in overcoming
the effects of breast cancer and other conditions affecting the lymphatic
system.
Mental Health funding has been
maintained with an emphasis on community programs for suicide prevention, and
children and youth mental health. Suicide prevention funding will include bereavement counselling for those who have lost someone due to suicide and
community awareness campaigns. There has been provision for a modest expansion
of service for people with eating disorders. This is an area of need in our
community and we welcome the investment in this.
The Funding for the Health
Infrastructure Program has been continued and HCCA is excited to see the
commitment to the University of Canberra Public Hospital. We look forward to
continuing to work with the Government on these projects.
In stressful times it is hard to get
the balance right but on this occasion I think the ACT Government has done well in
the short term to compensate the Canberra community from the worst effects of the
Federal Budget. The big question is how can we sustain this into the future?
Darlene Cox
Executive Director
@darlenecox
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