Minister Butler and Assistant Minister McBride, doorstop – 24 September 2024

MEMBER FOR ROBERTSON, DR GORDON REID MP: My name is Dr Gordon Reid, and I'm the Federal Member for Robertson, and we are here today at Evergreen Aged Care, a fantastic facility right here on the Central Coast, in the heart of the Central Coast in Gosford. It's an amazing facility that provides world-class care to aged care residents and also in a community setting as well. I firstly want to welcome my friend and colleague and carpooling buddy, Emma McBride, the Federal Member for Dobell and Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention and Rural Health. Emma is an amazing advocate here for the Central Coast and also for aged care. And I also, in particular, want to thank Mark Butler, the Minister for Health and Aged Care, for his attendance here today.
 
You will not find bigger advocates for health and aged care on the Central Coast than the three people standing here. We have made huge investments in the spaces of aged care, but also too in the Medicare and healthcare space. And I know this because last night, I was on shift in the emergency department, and I have seen the impact that Labor healthcare policies have had on our healthcare system. I look at the cheaper medicines policy, where people are now able to afford their medications and get 60 day scripts, which means that they have to see doctors less, and also to they're making less trips to the doctor to get those prescriptions refilled, which is not just a cost-saving measure, but also to a life-saving measure making sure that people can get the vital medicines that they need. And with that, I will hand over to the Minister for Health and Aged Care, Mark Butler.
 
MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE, MARK BUTLER: Thank you, Gordon. I'm so lucky as the Health Minister to have a caucus team that is populated by a whole bunch of health professionals nowadays, more than has been the case for decades, if not ever, in the Commonwealth Parliament. Emma McBride, obviously the first female pharmacist ever elected to the Commonwealth Parliament, and a leading pharmacist in this part of New South Wales. And Gordon, as he said, still pulling shifts at the Wyong emergency department, a really talented young emergency physician as well.
 
It's great to be up here with Emma and Gordon to get a sense of how our strengthening Medicare and cheaper medicines reforms are impacting a community for which good healthcare is just so important. Already, our changes to bulk billing arrangements are seeing bulk billing rates stop their freefall decline, which is what we inherited when we came to government, and they're starting to rise again. We want to see them rise more but just in the last 4 months across the country, our bulk billing investments have meant there have been more than 4 million additional bulk billed visits to the GP. We're seeing bulk billing rates, which had been in in freefall everywhere in the country, start to turn around, and in every state and territory, they've started to increase again. Gordon talked about our cheaper medicines reforms that have already saved patients hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars at the pharmacy.
 
I'm really pleased we'll be visiting the Lake Haven Urgent Care Clinic, which was one of 2 Urgent Care Clinics that we've opened here on the Central Coast that have already seen thousands and thousands of people in this part of New South Wales. They're open 7 days a week, they're fully bulk billed, and they're delivering terrific care for people who would otherwise, they say, have to go to the emergency department here at Gosford or Wyong or one of the other hospitals in the region.
 
I'm really glad that Evergreen has opened their doors and allowed us in to share some time with them across the road at the aged care facility, and here in their independent living community as well. This is a terrific organisation that's providing great support to hundreds of people from this community. A couple of weeks ago, we announced the latest tranche of our aged care agenda. The first phase has really been focused on staffing, getting nurses back into nursing homes, which we've been able to do now 99 per cent of the time there is a registered nurse in every aged care facility, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We've also lifted the number of personal carers working in aged care, which is delivering every single day, almost 4 million minutes of additional care to residents in aged care facilities. And the latest tranche of reforms we announced 2 weeks ago will deliver hundreds of thousands of additional Home Care Packages, supporting people to stay in their home for as long as possible, but also re-establishing the investability of residential aged care. There is currently effectively a capital strike in residential aged care. We're not building the beds that we need for the growing population of older Australians. We're going to have to build about 10,000 beds every single year. It's about equivalent to 100 new aged care facilities every single year for the next 20 years. The existing system simply wasn't supporting that level of investment. I'm really proud of the work that Aged Care Minister Anika Wells has been leading for the government with the support of our full caucus team here, because, Australians have worked so hard for all of their lives, paying taxes, raising their families deserve the best possible care and support they can get in their retirement and older age.
 
ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR MENTAL HEALTH AND SUICIDE PREVENTION AND ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR RURAL AND REGIONAL HEALTH, EMMA MCBRIDE: Thank you so much. Minister Butler, and to my colleague and friend, Dr Gordon Reid. Mark, thank you so much for your keen interest in the Central Coast and your many visits here to understand the reforms that we are making as a government, the real impact they're having on people and families on the Central Coast. On the Central Coast, about 30 per cent of people are over 60, and many people want to live independently at home. This big boost in support for independent living at home so people can live at home longer with the right kind of support and care. A big part of that is an investment in the workforce, making sure that they've got the skills and also the support to be able to provide quality care. This 15 per cent in wage rise for aged care workers has made such a big difference to aged care workers and the care that they can provide. An aged care worker in my community, Kylie, let us know that this meant that she could continue working in aged care, which she loved and found so fulfilling, but also had the means to buy her first home. We've just spoken to Trent, a physio who has graduated in New South Wales and saw the care that his grandparents received in aged care, and decided that he wanted to be part of that to make sure that every older person had the right kind of support and care. Our government has supported placements for allied health workers in aged care settings to make sure that the next generation of healthcare workers know that aged care is a place where they can have a career and make a genuine contribution to people and their lives.
 
I just wanted to finish speaking a little bit about dementia. Everyone would know that last week, we marked Dementia Action Week, and across Australia, there's 400,000 people living with dementia, but we know the ripple effect to families and communities. We saw through the Royal Commission into Aged Care, quality and safety, some strong recommendations around dementia, that people have better information earlier, that families and carers have better support in making these decisions. I am so pleased that our government is working towards all of these measures to make sure, including for the 15 residents here in Carinya, that they get the right kind of quality support and care safely that is person centred. And what makes such a big difference to people and families like mine and so many that are impacted by dementia. I now hand back to Minister Butler.
 
BUTLER: Any questions?
 
JOURNALIST: Mark, we have such a fast ageing population here on the Central Coast, and I've heard from a lot of aged care workers that feel they're overwhelmed. Tell me, what are these reforms going to do for the Central Coast, locally?
 
BUTLER: The first thing we need to do, as Emma said, is give aged care workers and aged care nurses the reward and the value for the work that they perform. The increased wages for aged care workers have meant that an average aged care registered nurse now is earning about $10,000 more than they were before we came to government. An aged care personal carer would be earning about $7,000 or $8,000 more than they were before we came to government. This is not only the right thing to do given the value of the work that they perform but aged care providers were telling us they just couldn't recruit the staff that they needed to deliver the care that their residents deserve. Now we hear aged care providers while we're not through the woods, there's a labour shortage generally in the economy, are finding it easier to recruit and importantly, retain those quality aged care staff. Turnover rates are down in aged care providers, and that is a critical first step to building and reforming the aged care sector in the way that the Royal Commission told governments needed to be done. That's the first step. The second, as I said, is we need to build more beds. There simply are not enough beds for the population that is coming down the pipeline needing aged care. That's what the last stage of the reforms that we announced a couple of weeks ago was directed at.
 
As well, we need to provide more support in the home, which is the work that Anika Wells has been doing. We'll be delivering hundreds of thousands of additional packages through the investments we announced 2 weeks ago. Waiting lists will come down, there will be better packages, more valuable packages for people staying in their own home. And they'll start to deal with some specific needs that people have in their home as well, like palliative care, so that people can spend those last weeks in their familiar surroundings of home with their loved ones, instead of having to go to hospital for those last few weeks of their life.
 
JOURNALIST: Sounds like these reforms come in a lot of stages. When can you tell aged care workers that they'll start to feel some relief?
 
BUTLER: Aged care workers are already feeling relief. Emma talked about a couple of aged care workers in this community we're hearing those stories right across Australia. There are more staff working in aged care facilities importantly, that means more time with residents. As I said, about 3.9 million additional minutes of care are being provided in aged care now compared to 2 years ago. That's required taxpayer investment. At the same time, we've had to lift the wages of aged care staff to attract and retain the staff that we need. Now, there is more to do, and that's why we're focused every single day on implementing the recommendations of the Royal Commission, delivering the level of care and support that older Australians deserve.
 
JOURNALIST: Minister, people are increasingly accessing their super to pay for medical procedures. Should that be happening in a country with universal healthcare?
 
BUTLER: Look, I'm not responsible for the superannuation industry, and I know Minister Stephen Jones has been asked about this over the last couple of days, and I'd refer you to his comments. There are strict rules that govern the way in which superannuation trustees are able to release superannuation funds for medical emergencies, and certainly would be my hope as a member of parliament and as the Health Minister that trustees are only releasing retirement savings for genuine emergencies.
 
JOURNALIST: On IV fluids, can you give any update about how many of the new bags are arriving and where they're going to be directed?
 
BUTLER: We're pulling jurisdictions together, every state and territory and private hospital representatives and the primary care sector through the AMA very regularly. Only last week, at their last meeting, they gave me a report, and other state and territory health ministers a report advising that the supply situation had stabilised. Still their advice is for clinicians in hospital and other settings to be judicious about the way in which they are using IV fluids, but we're confident that, as I said, the advice is that the supply situation has stabilised. In addition to receiving several million additional bags beyond the demand that we project over the next 6 months in the coming few weeks, the major manufacturer in Australia, which is in Toongabbie in Western Sydney, we'll be opening a new production line so there will be additional domestic supply as well. But in the more medium to long term, we're exploring options to ensure that we have a much better security of supply for this critical ingredient of good health care than has been the case in the past.
 
JOURNALIST: Have you got a time frame on that that domestic supply that's going to be set up soon?
 
BUTLER: I'm not able to make an announcement on behalf of the company, but I've been out and shown around the factory and been shown the new production line and been advised that that will come online in the coming few weeks.
 
JOURNALIST: On the menopause inquiry, when can we expect a government response?
 
BUTLER: This is a terrific inquiry. It attracted a lot of attention, but the report was only delivered late last week. I've already had a look at the recommendations. I've already started talking to interested colleagues and stakeholders about a response to that, but it will take some time to work through. In the Budget this year, we announced some investment in lifting GP or general practitioner capability and providing support to their patients who are going through perimenopause or menopause. That's starting to roll out, but that's a relatively modest investment we wanted to make while the inquiry was still underway.
 
But I think people who have paid attention to this inquiry or even read the report in the short time it's been available will be shocked. I was quite shocked by some of the conclusions, for example, around the very short time that medical students spend learning about menopause and perimenopause, in some cases, as little as one hour's training through their long medical degree about a very common obviously, but also sometimes quite complex, conditions. There is, as I said on the weekend, a lot for us to do to support women much better through primary care, in particular, through some of the very common issues that arise around reproductive health, around common conditions like pelvic pain and endometriosis, but also menopause. We're considering a lot of those reports as a bit of a job lot, and working through them right now.
 
JOURNALIST: Hospitals are feeling the pinch across the state, and nurses and midwives are calling on all forms of government to sort of speak up and help them. What do you have to say to them today?
 
BUTLER: I'm aware that there's an industrial dispute between the New South Wales Government and the New South Wales Nurses Association and the members of that union. That's a matter that's been stewarded, if that's the right word, by the Industrial Relations Commission. I'm obviously not across the details of those negotiations, but for the sake of patience, I hope that the parties are able to resolve this dispute as quickly as possible and get back to work.
 
JOURNALIST: How concerning is it for you that, you know, the daily running’s of hospitals are being disrupted at the moment because of this dispute?
 
BUTLER: That's really a matter between the union and the New South Wales Government. I'm not sufficiently across the detail of the dispute to make a comment. Probably not appropriate anyway, as the Federal Health Minister, you know, I just, I'm confident that both parties are working to try to resolve the dispute as soon as possible. Nurses are such a critically integral part of our healthcare system. I know all levels of government value our nurses enormously. They're the biggest group in our healthcare system, we are short of them. There's a global nursing shortage right across the world that they work terrifically hard. But I'm confident the parties will be doing everything they can to bring this dispute to a close as quickly as possible.
 
JOURNALIST: Dr Reid, we're hearing claims from local nurses about bullying and harassment from the local health service as leading into today's strike action. What do you know about this?
 
REID: Sure. Can I just say from the outset, as the local Member here in Robertson that I'm in support of our local nurses they are the backbone of our healthcare system. I work alongside them most days in the emergency department, but also too in my capacity as a member for Parliament. It is unfortunate there hasn't been a resolution that's been obtained by the New South Wales Government and the Nursing and Midwifery Federation. But make no mistake, they are the backbone of our healthcare system, and they and they have to be supported, and I've been supporting them from day dot. But any form of intimidation or harassment of any staff in any workplace is completely unacceptable, and I would encourage those staff that are feeling that to make sure that they go through the proper channels and they can also access our office as well.
 
JOURNALIST: Have some of those issues been raised with you? You're working with them last night. Can you sort of give a bit of an insight into what you're hearing, what you've been told while you're working alongside them?
 
REID: That's right. So obviously, a lot of the discussion has been centred around what's happening today with the nurses travelling down to Sydney. That wasn't raised with me last night, but I'm sure in the coming days that if there is a concern that nurses and midwives on the ground want to raise with me, they are more than welcome to do that. Our office is open to everyone, but in particular, our nurses and midwives. Just to go back, they helped train me as a doctor. I work alongside them, they provide exemplary care at all of our sites, at Woy Woy, Long Jetty  Gosford and Wyong hospitals. And they deserve to be valued.
 
JOURNALIST: Working alongside them, can you give some sort of insight into some of the challenges that they're facing at the moment? What do you see on the ground?
 
REID: Yeah, absolutely. Our nurses and midwives here on the Central Coast and right across the state of New South Wales provide exemplary care to patients in both a community and inpatient setting, but also into critical care settings. I'm talking about things like the coronary care unit, the intensive care unit and the emergency department. But they are stretched to breaking point. They are working exceptionally long hours making sure that patients get the care that they are needed. They're seeing significant volumes of patients coming in. We had an early start to COVID, influenza A and B and RSV this season. We saw a lot of patients coming through our emergency departments, and those patients require care. They're not well, they're unwell, and that's why they're in the hospital. And the nurses are being pushed to breaking point and that's part of what they're discussing today with the New South Wales Government.
 
BUTLER: Thanks everyone.