The federal health minister is keeping a close eye on Healthscope and his coalition opposition continues to obfuscate on public service cuts.
Federal health minister Mark Butler says his government is “watching very closely” as private hospital operator Healthscope comes closer to being sold, and said he was talking to other operators to ensure there are contingency plans if the company’s 38 hospitals were to close.
Speaking at his head-to-head battle with coalition health spokesperson Senator Anne Ruston at the National Press Club yesterday, Mr Butler said he was remaining non-judgemental about Healthscope’s plight.
“We’re watching very closely what is happening between Healthscope and their lenders and their landlords because that could have a very serious impact on some parts of the private hospital market, where the health scope hospital is strategically very critical,” he said.
“I don’t want to get into a judgment about ownership. I will say, though, that … we’re talking to them and to other operators in the system to ensure that, if something goes askew, that patients aren’t impacted.”
When Healthscope withdrew its maternity services in Tasmania, Mr Butler started a discussion with the state government and rival private operator Calvary to fill the gap through an injection of commonwealth funding.
“There’s no one, single discussion,” said Mr Butler.
“Healthscope is the second largest private hospital operator. It’s got some hospitals in markets that have a large number of private hospitals, and it’s got some hospitals in markets where it’s strategically very critical.
“So of course, particularly in that second category, we’re watching very closely.”
After three weeks of obfuscation from the opposition about where its plan to reduce the public service by 41,000 would fall, Senator Ruston was asked whether the axe would swing on public servants in health and aged care.
“We want to see an efficient investment in frontline services, so we’ve got the doctors trained, we’ve got the nurses, we’ve got the allied health workers, we’ve got the carers, we’ve got the aged care workers, we’ve got people working in the NDIS and disability,” she said.
“We need to make sure that we are focused on delivering services to Australians, not public servants sitting behind desks in Canberra.”
Mr Butler, meanwhile, said that large-scale cuts to the Department of Health and Aged Care public servant workforce would devastate Australia’s ability to deliver public health programs.
The rest of the debate fell to barb-swapping about Medicare, with both protagonists throwing accusations of neglect at each other.
Senator Ruston alleged that it had “never been harder or more expensive to see a doctor” than under the current government, citing the post-covid fall in bulk-billing rates, while promising that her party had a “really good story to tell on health”.
She categorically denied that there would be any cuts to Medicare or hospital funding, or that a coalition government would move toward a US-style managed healthcare system.
“We will invest in a future-focused health system,” she said. “One that sets the right priorities, where everybody works together.
“We need coordination, not cheap political potshots, whether that be the public or the private sector, whether it be the states and the territories or the commonwealth, whether that be doctors, nurses, or allied health … whether you live in the bush [or] in the city.
“These are not separate challenges. They are interconnected, and so too must be our solutions.”
Mr Butler pointed out that, ahead of the 2013 federal election, opposition leader Peter Dutton had also stood on the National Press Club stage and ruled out a funding cut to health.
Less than one year later, a coalition government attempted to introduce GP co-payments and cut hospital funding.
“Peter Dutton does have form on health and he has to wear that track record now at this election,” Mr Butler said.
“He expects Australians to believe that same promise that there’ll be no cuts to health.
“Well, Australians aren’t mugs.
“[They] know that Peter Dutton needs to find $600 billion to fund his nuclear power plant … Australians will only find out after the election where that axe is going to fall.”
Senator Ruston disputed that narrative, arguing that bulk-billing rates had gone up under the coalition’s watch, and instead accused Mr Butler of avoiding questions on whether Medicare Urgent Care Clinics were operating at advertised hours.
In response, Mr Butler acknowledged that some clinics were not currently operating at the promised 8am to 10pm opening hours.
It is worth noting that both sides of politics are relatively aligned on health; both parties have committed to $8.5 billion in funding to extend the tripled bulk-billing rebate to all Australians and improve general practice training pathways.
While each has smaller promises related to health, this has been the big-ticket item.
It left little room for debate as to which had the better plan going forward.
When questioned on the detail of the policy, specifically given the GP pushback to tripled bulk-billing incentives, Mr Butler’s and Ms Ruston’s lines did diverge slightly.
“What we have wanted to do is make it very clearly in the interest of general practices to move to this bulk-billing model,” Mr Butler said.
“Not every GP [or] general practice will do it. We’ve been honest about that.
“We think that about three-quarters of practices, based on what they are currently doing, would be better off if they shift to our fully bulk-billing model … but at the end of the day, I can’t force GPs to do it.
“I’m just making the argument it’s in their interest to do it.”
Senator Ruston’s answer focused more on how a coalition government would improve the small business landscape more broadly.
“Most GP clinics are actually small businesses, and like every other small business in this country – 30,000 of them have gone to the wall in the last three years – [they are facing] the highest insolvency rates that we have ever seen,” she said.
“We need to remember that they’re paying higher energy costs.
“They’re paying higher insurance, their mortgages or their rents are higher.
“They are being impacted by the cost and the inflationary impacts of the cost of doing business in Australia, just the same way as every other small business, and we need to recognise that and work together to make sure that we’re resolving this so Australians can get access to affordable health care.”
The Australian College of Nursing said it was “disappointed” the leaders in the health debate were silent on the role nurses could play in addressing the primary health care crisis and did not articulate a vision for genuine reform.
The ACN’s national director of professional practice, Karen Grace, said:
“The health minister and shadow health minister spoke a lot about the primary health care crisis and workforce shortages but failed to grasp the opportunities presented by the scope of practice review.
“There was no mention of the necessary primary health care reform that would unleash the potential of nurses and multidisciplinary team members to improve access to healthcare.
“ACN calls on all leaders to stop perpetuating the outdated notion that healthcare can only be provided by doctors – it’s time to recognise the value of other healthcare professionals and the even greater contribution they could be making to delivering patient care.”
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the first day of pre-polling, a record 542,000 people cast a ballot, a 73% increase on the 314,000 who cast a vote on the first day of pre-polling at the 2022 election.
In NSW, more than 166,000 of the 5.7 million people on the roll voted, while 143,200 people in Victoria cast a ballot.
In Queensland, 117,600 people voted on day one. In South Australia, 32,500 ballots were cast, while there were also good turnouts in Tasmania (7400), the ACT (9100) and the NT (5500).
One of the biggest turnouts relative to size was in Western Australia, where almost 60,000 people voted. That’s a 115% jump on the number of West Australians who voted on the opening day of the 2022 election.
