The Current Healthcare Issues in Australia
Introduction
The Australian health care system is primarily based on the universal access of health care principle. With the aide of the levy wages in the Commonwealth government, the collected funds are the schemes for the universal benefits which are called the Medicare. These Medicare are provided by the funds that are reimbursement for the private medical services which includes the general practitioners that plays the first line health care role and the specialist for the medical practitioner. These can also provide the levy of the subsidies which are listed in the mediations of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. The territory and state governments are operating in the systems of public hospital whereas the health care system are primarily run by the government and the state and territory are playing the huge role for the heath care services for public. The local government is focusing in the community based as well as in the home care services which includes environmental health issues as well as the ageing and the technological growth issue. In this regard, the national spending in the health care will be 8-9% for the gross domestic product and the funding of 67% with 33% of the private sources (Podger and Hagan 1999, p. 36). Aside from these issues, there are till other issues that the Australian Health care is facing. One of these issues is the changing demography and to the disease patterns in Australia which have been debated and discussed by the members of the society that serves as offer choice for doctors in the private care while posses threats to the access and equity in the health care delivery. The nursing profession in Australia is currently encountering some challenges that are not related to its definitions and to its identity wherein its long term viability had been threatened while predicted the critical nursing shortages. With these recent issues that arise, the question is that how the health care will survive? This solution ca be unclear and complex though it is known that that it is intrinsic in the lives of the people as well as in the social system and will be constructed in the future of Australia (Parbury 2000).
The Quality and Safety in the Concept of Health Care
In the health care, the quality simple means the doing of the right things, at the right way, and to the right time for the specific and right person while having the best possible result. Notwithstanding that the thinking of many is that each doctor, hospital, and health plan can provide and gives the high-quality care, this is not always so and the qualities for health care are varying for so many reasons. On the contrary, there are still ways in measuring the quality so that it can measure and review the quality of the care one had provided. This can also gives the information regarding the provision of care for the patients. In order for the health care professional to do the right things for the making a continuous improvements, it is only important to have the optimal clinical results for the patients, retention for the talented staff, must have satisfaction for the customers, and to have the financial viability (Leebov 2003, p. 6). In general, the quality in the health care in Australia for both the private and public sectors are all compatible and can be lined to the other developed countries. Just like in the United States, there are no concerns regarding the number of the adverse events that can be occurred in the hospitals. This implies that the major teaching hospitals can be significant research profiles as well as the care in the first-rate. The rural and the suburban hospitals can also be seen in the provision of providers for the high-quality care (Ducket 2004).
The issues regarding the health and safety for the providers of health care are growing in the professional concerns. Since the health care workers are the both common and unique in the health hazards in the environment, therefore it is important to have the health care facilities that can represent in the situation wherein the operation and facility needs can be needs in order to satisfy the requirements for the health care. Since the safety in the health care profession is very important in order to have avoided mistakes which lead to much more danger, the health and safety management and control procedures are observing by the health care professional for the protection of the patient and the workers as well. Therefore, the proper training and education needs to be address in the health and safety that are exposed in the hazardous elements in the daily basis (Charney 1999, p. 8).
The Issues in the Australian Health Care
There are many issues arise in the Health Care field of Australia. One of these is the nursing profession or the shortages for the nurse in the remote and rural areas. The appropriate provision for the health for these areas in considered being the national concern. When the work force for nursing in the remote and rural areas reflected the national demographics, the other health care professional percentages that are working in the said areas are not. In addition, the largest percentages of the nurses who are working in the remote and rural regions are not registered burse rather they are only enrolled as nurses. The national shortages are also been projected in some of the critical care, mental health, clinical areas, aged care and preoperative care as well as midwifery and cardiothoracic care. Generally, the projected shortages are all been fuelled by the minimization of the enrollment in the education program of basic nursing with only 15.9% decline in the year 1991 to 1998 due to the ageing work force and the retention problems as setting for leave health care and not valuing the work (Parbury 2000). With regards to the anticipated shortages to nurses, there are current drives for the introduction of the generic health workers and to the substitute nurses to the unskilled workers. The phenomenon had also been cause by the poor payment for the nurses, the unmanageable sets of workloads with the unsatisfactory working conditions, and the tight budgets that can interfere with the care of the patients. The solution of the government is to recruit nurses from overseas which can be considered as the short term solution that can correct the problem. Despite of the reasons that the number of health workforce have cause the concerned in Australia, the studies had been emphasized that the democratic changes are the cause of the shortages of the nurses in the country which includes the ageing population as well as the some of the workforces and the combination for the increase of the demand and to the health services. The nurses are also leaving the nursing profession because of the comparison for the other health professional and consider having the low rates even if they are practice nurses or the other specialties. The job dissatisfaction and the technological advancement can also increase the shortages for the nurses now and in the future. There are other contributions that pay which serves as the reasons wherein nurses are not continuing their profession which important for remuneration. According to the survey, it had been indicated that the lack of the career path for the experienced nurses, the staff shortages, overwork, frustration, perceptions towards work, emotional and physical exhaustion and the unappreciated and not respected by the other workers are all been part of the dilemmas that added to the declination of number of nurses in Australia (Jolly 2007).
The continuous growth in the number of health inequality that concerns to equity and poor health can serves as exacerbating to the two of the current issues in Australia’s health care. This implies that the women are doing better that the men and most of the well educated city dwellers in the leafy neighborhoods are doing better as compared to the people that are living in the bush or less which are affluent to suburbs. One of these dilemmas is the poor health care that can be provided to the remote and to the rural areas in the country. In this regard, the care for poor health can provide the remote and to rural areas in the country. This reality can reflect the health care funds and expenditures in the country due to the reason that it is predominantly in the metropolitan and in the coastal region. According to the conference of the National New South Wales, the measurement in the issues regarding the health care in Australia is the inadequate health care that are available in the rural Australians as they are compared in the counterpart city. In accordance to the report of the Australian Institute of Health Welfare, most of the indigenous Australian had experience the lower levels of access to health services as compared t the major population. As the example is the instant firs-rate health care in Australia for the immunization for every child but the traits of poor health can be visible in the Third World are also present in Australia. These poor healths in most of the remote and rural areas added to the issues regarding the services on the health care industry in Australia that needs to give solution (Bio Medicine, 2008).
The changes in the disease patterns and demography can also be the issue in the Australian health care sector. The ageing population can challenge the abilities of the health care services in maintaining the wellbeing and health, continuing illness and manage serious, and the provision of supports for the frail and disabled. The Australian is expected to live for 73 years in the healthy life though the actual life expectancy for some is 10 years longer yet accompanied by the increase of disability from the chronic illnesses. The actions that are taken in the earlier life can mitigate or even prevent the chronic illness while can prevent the chronic illness which includes the diabetes and pose the growing and significant morbidity, mortality, and health care costs. In reality, the ageing population is not considered to be the primary factor in the rise of the health costs. In the report of the federal Treasury for the financial year 2002-2003 concluded to the ageing population which will have the only or a little bit effect on the spending. Nevertheless, the chronic diseases can be associated to the ageing pose for both of the managerial and medical challenges. The chronic diseases can dominate as well the long list of the health problems which was experienced by the most of the indigenous communities. The preventive initiatives does not reach out those of the mostly at risk and the services for the chronically ill are all concentrated in the acute care sector with the suboptimal links in general community care and to the general practice. Coordinating to the services which can cause the better primary and up to the tertiary prevention can be better acre in to the patients who has the continuing and serious illness and some of them are required for the support in the past years though hindered by competing and separate contributions that made by the state and federal government and to the private sector of supply and funding of health services (Armstrong et. al. 2007).
The solutions in these issues can be recognized to new prevention approaches, the acute rehabilitation and care that tackle health problems which Australia is facing in the 21st century. This must also be prioritize by the public agreement and for the health of its citizens and focus on big picture and long term manner.
Bibliography
Armstrong, B et. al. (2007).Challenges in Health and Health Care for Australia. Medical Journal of Australia, 187 (9), 485-489.
Bio-Medicine (2008). Australia’s Aborigines. Medicine News. Retrieved August 11, 2008, from http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news/Australias-Aborigines-Affected-by-Poor-Health-3A-Experts-21268-1/.
Charney, W. (1999). Handbook on Modern Hospital Safety. CRC Press, Wanshington.
Leebov, W. (2003). The Health Care Manager’s Guide to Continuous Quality Improvement, iUniverse. United States.
Duckett, S (2004). Healthcare in Australia. Med Hunters. Retrieved August 11, 2008, from http://www.medhunters.com/articles/healthcareInAustralia.html.
Jolly, R. (2007, September 17). Practice Nursing in Australia. Parliamentary Library. Retrieved August 11, 2008, from http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/rp/2007-08/08rp10.htm.
Parbury, J. (2000). Nursing Around the World. Nursing in Australia. 5(2),200.
Podger, A. & Hagan, P. (1999). Reforming the Australian health care system: The role of government. Report published by the Department of Health and Aged Care. Canberra: Australian Government Press.
0 comments:
Post a Comment