Health System Run Down By Doctors

Public health systems are suffering. More money is being spent on them than ever before and the service level is in decline.

Health service bureaucracy's continue to grow while we struggle to get actual health worker, ie those who directly look after patient well being. Administrative salaries often outstrip those of the health worker.

What a mess!

How come if you need an operation in the public health system you get put on a waiting list or 6 months or more, but the same medical practitioner can see you next week if you go private? Well the answer is pretty obvious.

The surgeons are using the public health system as a feeder into their private practice. The worse the public system gets, the better private care appears.

Lets change the policy to "you either work for the public health system or your private system" not both. Make private practices pay all their own expenses, ensure they cannot utilise testing or any other facilities from the public sector for free. These surgeons are double dipping.

No doubt the surgeons will arue that without their time spent in the public systems things would be much worse, tell that to the person who is likely to die waiting for an operation in the public system. For them it would be no change.

Put them on performance based pay, contracted to provide a specific number of operations and specify the expected outcome. Then pay would be truly earned and the public would know what it is getting for it's dollar, plus if the outcome is not as it should be payment would be reduced or not made at all.