Nepean Hospital to get funding boost

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has announced $7.5 million in funding for Sydney's Nepean
Hospital, labelling it an "interim arrangement" ahead of his government's national
health care reforms.

Mr Rudd was in western Sydney on Friday to "road test" the response to the National
Health and Hospitals Reform Commission's recommendations, including that the
commonwealth take over all primary health services and provide 40 per cent of
funding for hospitals.
He spent more than an hour hearing the questions and concerns of staff relating to
issues like elective surgery, acute care and emergency department services.
"Certainly the questions I got from the floor today and the points I received
reflected frustrations with elective surgery (and) reflected frustrations with other
parts of the provision of local services in this community as well," Mr Rudd told
reporters.
"And I've received similar expressions of concern in other parts of the country as
well."
Nepean Hospital staff also related personal stories of elective surgery back logs
and the need for less red tape when dealing with the state government.
One orthopaedic surgeon put to Mr Rudd that people requiring joint replacements have
to wait three years in constant pain before receiving surgery.
In his response, Mr Rudd broadened the issue to a national and ethical level.
"When there is chronic pain like that, we've got to ask ourselves questions about
whether we're prepared as a community and a nation to continue that," he told the
audience.
"And as I keep saying, and the flip side of which is, how much will we pay for that,
as both these things will always be in tandem."
The new funding for Nepean Hospital is made up of $6.2 million to establish six
additional beds in it's medical assessment unit and $1.39 million for additional
equipment for the hospitals elective surgery program.
Mr Rudd labelled the funding a bandaid ahead of national reform.
He said the funding for Nepean and similar boosts for other hospitals were "interim
arrangements".
"What we are on about for the long term is the long term reform of the system," Mr
Rudd said.