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PDF printable version of Transcript of Interview with Paula Tapiolas - ABC North Queensland (PDF 26 KB)

5 May 2011

Topics: Health and Hospitals Fund; Townsville Hospital; Mental Health; Private Health Insurance

Paula Tapiolas: Now, as you heard in the news, more money is on the way for the Townsville Hospital. The Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon is on her way to the hospital right now. Minister, welcome.

Nicola Roxon: Good morning.

Paula Tapiolas: What are the details of the package that you're announcing today for North Queensland?

Nicola Roxon: Well this is good news particularly for Townsville, with the new $12 million day treatment centre which is going to mean that there's 12 extra beds for handling procedures where you don't need to stay overnight at hospital.

So lots and lots of surgery now that needs to be undertaken that you can do just in a day. The Queensland Government is also putting forward extra funding to staff the facility and it means that nearly 2000 extra procedures will be able to be undertaken each year, and obviously means people won't wait as long for their surgery.

Paula Tapiolas: Have you got any projections on what it will actually mean for the waiting lists?

Nicola Roxon: Well obviously there is a complex mix with demands that it's not quite as easy as saying we'll just clear those immediately. But the fact that we can say that this investment means that 1780 procedures to be precise, additional procedures will be able to be undertaken each year obviously has an enormous impact for people that otherwise might wait a long time for cataract surgery or knee surgery or others.

Paula Tapiolas: I'm just wondering about the sorts of surgery - sorts of procedures that might be done. Are they considered elective surgery procedures?

Nicola Roxon: It depends. It depends on the condition. But a lot of them obviously have a very big impact on the way people live their lives and across the country there can be quite significant waiting times for those sorts of procedures. What our Government, the Gillard Government's determined to do is invest more in regional health and hospital services so that people are not waiting too long and also don't have to travel extended distances.

And of course this comes on top of investments that we've made in the Townsville Hospital for stage three of the hospital development, cancer centres across the region and importantly today we're also announcing very significant additional investment in mental health services in regional Queensland including here, investing in a mental health fellowship program which also provides additional telephone support to those in particular need of advice and assistance.

Paula Tapiolas: I'm very interested in hearing about those mental health funding initiatives in just a moment but I do want to ask you about why the decision was made for extra day surgery beds at the Townsville Hospital?

And I'm asking in light of the fact that the Townsville Hospital was built too small in the first place because of a misconception that day surgery would free up beds and then the State Government has since admitted in the last 10 years that that didn't happen.

So are day surgery beds the best way to go for this particular hospital?

Nicola Roxon: I think you need to have a mix and of course our Government committed $250 million to expand the Townsville Hospital. That project is underway, this is in addition to that. We identified that there was still a need in rural and regional Australia and had a specific round focused on the needs of regional Australians so that state governments and others could bid for projects that needed to be funded that would provide better services to the community. And this was a successful project in that round of funding and will be in our budget next week.

Paula Tapiolas: So do you think that day surgery beds are the best way to go?

Nicola Roxon: I think you need an appropriate mix. I think you need to have of course, the acute facilities and our Government is supporting those significantly with the $250 million investment.

But day surgery is also important and can be a thing that gets pushed aside if you are reliant on, you know, the main services that might get taken up, whether it's your operating theatres for emergency or trauma or for other events.

This way, you can have a dedicated day procedure unit, cataract surgery, knee surgery and others can be undertaken in a regular way. People can know when they're going to get their surgery done and can come in for that time it's booked and won't get bumped off list because operating theatres need to be used for emergencies or other unexpected or unplanned procedures.

So I do believe that it's important to have both. I certainly as Health Minister am not saying that you should have one or the other. You need to have sufficient hospital beds to meet demands of the communities, plus you need to be able to look at day procedures and day surgeries like this one, that helps ease demand, but importantly actually let people get their surgery in a more timely way.

Paula Tapiolas: We're with the Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon who's on her way to the Townsville Hospital with a package of $12 million for the Townsville Hospital and $1.65 million for the construction and fit-out of a redeveloped and expanded mental health facility. Minister, what are the details on this?

Nicola Roxon: Well, this was an application to fund a mental health, mental illness fellowship for North Queensland. So this is a project which is not run by the State Government. It's a project where there's been a lot of lobbying by the local community to provide better support and particularly telephone support for a wider region.

I know that a lot of people are known to be caring for people with mental problems often want to be able to get advice on the phone in a timely way. This is going to allow that to happen. And it's part of what is a bigger investment in mental health across all of regional Queensland, again in partnership with the Queensland Government where there's 134 extra beds, both in community care units but also in sub acute and acute care units linked to our hospitals across the region. Again, so that our determination to get services closer to where people live can be achieved.

Paula Tapiolas: Minister, I must ask you, health insurance is in the news this morning, the national news. Will the Federal Government be means testing the rebate for private health insurance? Will that measure come in in this budget?

Nicola Roxon: Well, this is a very strange story. We've announced this policy two years ago. It's been in the Parliament twice. It is our Government's ambition to be able to, for the very highest income earners in Australia, to ask them to pay a little bit more for their private health insurance so that the vast majority of low and middle income earners who have private health insurance can continue to receive the generous 30 per cent rebate.

This is not new and honestly I don't know how many times the insurance industry is going to cry wolf about the impact of this measure. It's public, it's been known for two years, it's in our budget. The estimates are it will have a very small impact on those who take out private health insurance. And I really do think that the industry is scaremongering again.

Paula Tapiolas: What's the income bracket for the...

Nicola Roxon: I think it is for couples over $250,000. So couples who earn more than a quarter of a million dollars a year would no longer receive the 30 per cent rebate. We know from all of the research and from Treasury modelling that people on those incomes are not taking out health insurance because of the rebate. There's a range of other reasons that they might take out health insurance and we think asking people on those sorts of incomes - I mean, really I don't think a secretary or nurse or taxi driver should be contributing to my private health insurance. I can well afford to do that myself.

So it's really just a way of making sure that health insurance and support for health insurance is targeted to those who need it most. Unfortunately that's been blocked by the Liberal Party and by the Senate for the past two times that we've tried to introduce that measure but it remains our Government's policy.

We took it to the last election and it isn't something new that is in the budget this week.

Paula Tapiolas: Nicola Roxon, thank you very much.

Nicola Roxon: Pleasure.

Paula Tapiolas: You're listening to 630 ABC North Queensland. It's 16 minutes to nine and my name is Paula Tapiolas. Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon in Townsville today, as you just heard, announcing $12 million for a new day treatment centre at the Townsville Hospital, and $1.65 million for the construction and fit out of a redeveloped and expanded mental health facility.

ENDS