South Australia leading on health
South Australia (SA) Health Minister, John Hill, has welcomed new national figures showing South Australia leading on several important benchmarks, including the highest health spending per person, the highest number of nurses, dentists and rural GPs per population and the longest average lifespan for both men and women.
The annual Report on Government Services shows that in 2007/08, recurrent health spending in SA was $4,848 per person, compared to the national average of $4,628.
The state’s annual spending on public hospitals was $1,509 per person – higher than the Australian average of $1,350.
Staffing numbers in public hospitals in 2007/08 were among the highest in the country at 12 full-time equivalents (FTEs) per 1,000 people. That’s over 6% above the national average of 11.3 FTEs per 1,000 people.
South Australia’s ratio of nurses to people was the equal highest in the nation at 5.7 per 1,000 people.
SA also had the highest availability of GPs in rural locations with 93.1 full time workload equivalent GPs per 1,000 people. The Australian average was 81.3 per 1,000 people.
The number of public dentists in SA was also the highest in the nation at 9.1 per 1,000 people.
“It’s gratifying to see that South Australians now enjoy the longest lives in the nation – these figures show the current average lifespan for men is 78.6 years, compared to the national average of 77.7. Women’s average life expectancy is 84.2 years, compared to the national average of 83.6 years,” Minister Hill said.
