Care pushed in health system reform
A need for more Australian community and home care options is being urged by health experts, as work is being carried out on the reform of the national health system.
The chair of the National Health and Hospital Reform Commission, Dr Christine Bennett, said there was a “clear demand and preference” for more community based care and more home based care options, including transitional care and rehabilitation programs for people of all ages.
“Certainly hospitals are high on the agenda, as a critical part of the system, but people are warning that we should not be defining our health system in terms of hospital beds.
“People do not want to be in a hospital bed if they do not need to be there. In many areas there is no alternative supported accommodation – no respite, hospice, or step down facilities”.
Dr Bennett said that in submissions being made about the health system reforms, people were talking about health care more broadly and not concentrating on hospitals alone.
An interim health system report will be presented to the Rudd Government by the end of the year, with a final report due in May next year.
