Labor is back for round two. Here’s what to expect. Meanwhile, the RACP took Labor to task for focusing too much on general practice. Oh dear.
The votes have been tallied, the democracy sausages have been eaten and Labor has returned for a second term – with the smoke beginning to clear, here’s where the major health issues have landed.
The winners
In portfolio terms, nothing looks set to change dramatically.
All five members of Labor’s health team – Mark Butler, Anika Wells, Ged Kearney, Emma McBride and Kate Thwaites – retained their respective seats in the lower house.
Speaking to 5AA radio on Monday, incumbent health minister Mark Butler confirmed that he would “very much love” to continue leading the portfolio, but acknowledged that the final decision lies with caucus.
As a recap, Labor’s biggest health pledges included expanding bulk-billing incentives to apply to all Australians, introducing a new PIP for practices that commit to full bulk billing, and opening another 50 Medicare urgent care clinics.
The bulk billing and PIP changes are scheduled to kick in on 1 November.
The smaller policies which will directly impact healthcare included a paid parental leave scheme for GP registrars, an incentive payment for junior doctors going into general practice and an upgrade to the Medical Costs Finder to automatically display non-GP specialist fees.
A congratulations from the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, the country’s biggest union, made it clear that nurses expected continued reforms over the next four years.
“Over the last term of government, many ANMF members benefitted from Labor’s reforms, such as improved wages and 24/7 RN staffing in aged care; improvements to workers’ rights; the removal of outdated barriers to practice for nurse practitioners and endorsed midwives; fee-free TAFE courses for over 100,000 students; and the establishment of a National Nursing and Midwifery Health Program,” federal secretary Annie Butler said.
“In the lead-up to this election, Mr Albanese again promised he’d stand up for nurses, midwives and care workers, which we welcome because although we’ve made significant gains, we still have much work to do.”
Australian College of Nursing CEO Adjunct Professor Kathryn Zeitz said she hoped that momentum for “significant and much-needed” reform would continue and pick up pace into a second Labor term.
The scope of practice review, which was released last year and broadly recommended a larger role for non-medical healthcare workers, is yet to be acted upon.
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“Australia must move beyond doctor-only healthcare solutions,” Professor Zeitz said.
“Nurses, nurse practitioners, midwives, pharmacists, physiotherapists, and other allied health professionals have more to offer in multidisciplinary teams.
“Scope of practice reforms will allow all health professionals to work to their full capacity and potential – what they were trained and educated to do.”
The losers
With the exception of a promise to increase the number of subsidised mental health appointments available under Better Access, the Liberal National Party health pledges did not depart significantly from those of Labor.
That is to say, there won’t be any major health funding injections that GPs will be missing out on because Labor won.
With The Greens performing worse than anticipated in the lower house it’s unlikely that the country’s biggest minor party will be in a position to pressure Labor into putting dental into Medicare; this has been its biggest health priority for several election cycles.
One of the notable absences from Labor’s pledges were specific commitments relating to rural and remote healthcare.
ACRRM president Dr Rod Martin said the rural college would continue to advocate for Australians living outside of metropolitan areas.
“Chronic underfunding has gone on too long,” he said.
The responses
In welcoming the re-elected government, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians took it to task for its focus on general practice.
“During the election campaign, the government made significant commitments to increase GP numbers and strengthen primary care services,” RACP president Professor Jennifer Martin said.
“Improving access to GPs is a vital first step, however, it alone won’t address the changing health needs of Australians, especially as the Australian population ages and we see more and more complex and chronic conditions.
“The government must follow their necessary and welcome measures to improve GP access with an equally concerted effort to help bolster access to specialist medical care.”
RACGP president Dr Michael Wright also congratulated Mr Albanese on his re-election and welcomed the $8.5 billion going toward Medicare and the GP workforce, but said the college would continue to advocate for increased rebates for long consults and mental health consults.
“We are now looking forward to helping the government to implement that investment in the smartest way possible,” he said.
“Specialist GPs see more than 22 million Australians every year and are perfectly positioned to provide expert advice on the healthcare Australians need to manage complex chronic conditions, keeping them healthy and out of hospitals.”
The National Rural Health Alliance, meanwhile, said it would put pressure on the government to implement recommendations from the various consultations it had conducted.
“Our contribution, alongside other rural health stakeholders, helped shape these reforms and many of our recommendations were acknowledged and referenced in the final reports,” NRHA chief executive Susi Tegen said.
“Now it is time for the Albanese Government to implement these important reforms and measures and the NRHA stands ready to help in this implementation phase.”
