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Health plan vital to support population increase
25 September 2009.
Population projections should serve as a wake-up call for the Victorian Government to develop a long-term healthcare plan to care for the state’s growing and ageing population, AMA Victoria President Dr Harry Hemley said today.
“If Victoria is expected to grow by 3.25 million people over the next 40 years, we need to see substantial increases in public hospital capacity,” he said.
“Bed numbers haven’t kept up with the population in the past and as a result the sick and injured face long waits for care in public hospital emergency departments and on elective surgery waiting lists.”
Based on the latest Intergenerational Report’s prediction that Australia’s population will rise to 35 million by 2049, an additional 187 beds need to be added to Victoria’s health system each year just to keep up with current capacity levels.
“By OECD standards we should be seeing an additional 325 Victorian public hospital beds each year for the next 40 years,” Dr Hemley said. “That’s 13,000 extra beds.”
“Victoria’s population is growing and ageing – we need a plan to ensure we have enough resources to care for all Victorians if they become sick or injured in the future. We need extra beds, more doctors and nurses, additional equipment and improvements to information technology systems.
“Without a long term plan, Victorians’ access to public health services is guaranteed to decline.”
Last week the Australian Medical Association called on state governments to increase transparency surrounding bed numbers and implement a Bed Watch monitoring system as part of its health reform process.
Dr Hemley said governments should report more regularly on the number of beds available in public hospitals.
“We know that some Victorian public hospitals operate at beyond the recommended 85 per cent occupancy, which means that they are less able to deal with fluctuations in demand for beds, “ Dr Hemley said. “At the moment we don’t have accurate data on exactly how many beds are available.
“Implementing a monitoring system is an important step in planning for future health care service provision in Victoria, and is something the Victorian Government can do now.”
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