Vic: Thwaites slams Feds as hospital beds close

AAP General News (Australia)
04-20-2001
Vic: Thwaites slams Feds as hospital beds close

MELBOURNE, April 20 AAP - The closure of a Melbourne private hospital's emergency department
showed the federal government's private health insurance policies were not working, Victoria's
health minister said today.

Health Minister John Thwaites said the closure of nine beds at the John Fawkner Hospital
at Coburg meant more pressure would be placed on the public health system.

"This closure ... shows that the federal government's private health insurance rebate
system is not working," Mr Thwaites told reporters.

"Our public hospitals are going to have to take patients that should be being treated
in private hospitals."

Mr Thwaites said the federal government was not providing enough funds to private hospitals,
despite its push to encourage high-income earners to take out private insurance.

"The insurance companies have made a fortune out of this insurance rebate, funded by
the taxpayer, and yet they're not adequately funding private hospitals. That's why we
are seeing this result."

But opposition health spokesman Robert Doyle said the minister should take responsibility
for the state of Victoria's troubled health system and stop blaming the commonwealth.

"The government has a responsibility to provide trauma, acute medical and emergency
services to those in need," Mr Doyle said.

"The health minister should not be attempting to divert blame."

Mr Doyle said that the emergency system was in "meltdown" and the government had to
decide how it would cope with the loss of "crucial" beds from next month.

"These were high-care beds and their loss is a major problem when the entire emergency
system in Melbourne is in crisis," Mr Doyle said.

"The closure means that up to 30 emergency patients each day will have to be accommodated
somewhere else in an already overloaded public health system."

AAP cmc/clr/jnb/sb n

KEYWORD: EMERGENCY

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