FRIDAY 23 AUGUST 2002

“Health Budget Chickens Come Home To Roost”

“Health Budget chickens have come home to roost,” said Mr Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, today. Mr Powell was commenting on the record $217million deficit for public hospitals, a massive $149m increase on the previous year.

“The Government’s Budget for the 2001-02 financial year was a shocker for health with a pathetic $900,000 increase for public hospitals to provide existing services. This action alone made a huge deficit blow-out inevitable.”

“The deficit blow-out seriously threatens the Government’s promising three-year funding package that started on 1 July this year. The benefits promised by this three-year package may be sabotaged by the massive deficit.”

“Unless the Government takes urgent corrective action the deficit blow-out is certain to seriously compromise patient care. Inevitably patients will have to wait longer for necessary treatments and risk increasing their pain, suffering and distress,” concluded Mr Powell.

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