Gloomy news on the Health Front

[JDNSW]

A few days ago one of the largest medical practices in Dubbo announced they are planning to close their doors in a month. All the doctors are moving to the coast, after failing to gain building approval for a new clinic. They were unable to sell the practice, as apparently nobody is prepared to deal with Greater Western Area Health Service (GWAHS). They cover the medical needs of about a third of the population in Dubbo and surrounding districts, including my sister, who has been using that practice for almost forty years.

All the other medical practices in Dubbo are said to have closed books - no new patients.

Tonight on the news it was revealed that of the eight specialists at Dubbo Base Hospital, seven have not applied to renew their contracts (applications closed on Saturday). In other western area health news, medical services in some towns have disappeared along with air services when Air Link withdrew services to a number of towns when the State Government cut subsidies for them.

John

[rick130]

Not good John.
A business friend of mine in Dubbo apologised for not getting back to me quickly today as she had a specialists appointment she's been waiting three months for.
Sounds like Jenn was very lucky she got anyone at all.

[abaddonxi]

That sounds dire. I didn't realise medical service was quite so bad outside of the city.

Glad the health gloom is not yours.

[rick130]

...and our little town is about to lose it's GP who is moving soon.
The nearest medical practice is 40km away, but they are so run off their feet and therefore the care isn't what it should be so my SO travels 100km just to see a doctor.

Luckily the only time I've needed anything medical in the last eight years I caught the doctor doing his rounds at the Hospital early in the morning. (looks like I'm not too tolerant of bee stings these days)

[JDNSW]

To put a personal aspect on it - I saw the doctor today. The medical practice I attend I ended up with when my GP, who had his own practice, moved into this large clinic several years ago. About a year ago he moved away. I eventually found a good doctor among the other ones. I found out today he has moved to Sydney. This clinic does not have appointments, so I had to wait a bit over an hour to see the first available doctor, whose grasp of English seemed rather tenuous. But I wanted to see a doctor about three problems - sore eye, waxed up ears and a cracked heel. She said I had to deal with one problem only per session, but since I was from out of town she would do two, so I chose my sight and hearing. I can hear a bit better now and have an antibiotic for the conjunctivitis. I would like to change to a doctor where I could get an appointment to see the same doctor each time, preferably without a long wait, but there seems to be no choice.

Of course, one of the effects of the other practice closing will be that people who can't see a GP will turn up at casualty at the base hospital. This is the place where the nurses have been borrowing supplies from a local vet and where doctors have been paying for medication out of their own pockets, and where secretaries have been buying printing paper out of their own pockets so they can do their job. This is the area health service that was serving vegetarian meals to hospital patients in Gilgandra because the local butcher refused to supply any more meat until he got paid for invoices owing for nearly a year. Can you imagine how they will cope with an influx of additional patients who cannot see a GP?

John

[tony]

Thats shocking, you hear on the news that the health service is in a sorry state

but thats plain bad...John have you thought of mailing this post to all the

currant affiers programs, its amazing what a bit of publicity can do.

I'll never moan again about haveing to pay 50 bucks to see my GP norramally

get in withen 2-3 days and you can see him for more than 3 things at the

same time

T

[JohnE]

Evening all,
what a topic something i would love to talk about for hours if time permitted.
NSW Rural Health, what a joke it is, ex party hacks as CEO's of the area health services, at least the one up here is. Anytime there is a problem with the area health service his name always pops up usually as the architect of the problem.

But at least we had lots of gp's and medical centres but they too are stretched.

My sympathies JD, is this how our aging( not you ) population is being served. Is it because the medico's want a greater earn or is it because the area health services make it very difficult for them to operate efficiently. It would be interesting to know the answer.
I don't think in Dubbo's case not getting a DA approved is the reason.

good luck and try to stay healthy.


john

[Bushie]

That's really a sad reflection on the state of health in NSW, whilst Dubbo is west of 'the divide', I'm not really sure that it qualifies as a country town nowadays. I thought it was the biggest city in NSW west of the mountains with a population that's got to be approaching 30 thousand.


Martyn

[Quiggers]

Well, thankfully, and after your headline, I was concerned for you, I was worried about your health, not the system.

Yet as so often, you always think of others.

Your doctors are probably here, we have so many on this eastern coastal strip, all seeking an easy life in a subtropical paradise.

You know where I live, a village of 5,000 people, and about 15 doctors in GP, and more inside the numerous aged care facilities.

The service isn't any better than where you are, tho'...
if it is any consolation....

nearly lost my 16YO daughter, until a fourth opin from Melb realised the cold hard light of day....

[Ace]

Its not good is it John, and its funny you mention Greater Western Area Health Service, its not that long since the announced on the news that 130 nurses within GWAHS were going to lose their jobs. Here i am thinking there was a shortage or nurses, how silly i was. :mad:

[Bundalene]

That's terrible news. Dubbo is a huge place with a very large population. I heard on the radio the other day a doctor being interviewed. He has a pilot's licence and was willing to fly to Bourke one day per month to give his services FREE of charge to locals. His offer was declined!
This poor excuse for a State Government is not fair dinkum about de-centralisation, I feel for the hard workers out in the bush, they do it tough enough already without having to fight for every essential service. Someone needs a good kick up the backside:mad:
We have a friend who lives in Scotland, he and his wife are both Doctors and spent 12 months here about 10 years ago, they were filling in for Doctors who were away on annual leave. They were based at Dubbo for most of that time and went out to Health Clinics all around the area to help out in the smaller communities - they loved the experience.
The decline in the system is pathetic.

Mrs B

[Bigbjorn]

A couple years ago Mayne Health sold the busy Carina Medical Centre to another medical corporation, who promptly closed it telling the clients that they could go to their nearest one at Mt. Gravatt. No direct public transport so the elderly and others unable to drive or afford a $25 taxi each way would have to take two buses on a journey of up to two hours depending on the waiting time for each bus. No other local practice could accept more than a few former Carina clients. Some would not take any. This was a full service centre, GP's, pharmacy, pathology, physio, x-rays, etc. so its closure affected more than just the patients seeing GP's.

A cynical aside on attracting physicians to country towns. Rellies for many years farmed near Allora on the Darling Downs. They always had troubles attracting a Dr. for the community hospital. This is only 100 miles from Brisbane and is a quite pleasant location. It is not Quilpie or Bedourie. When a rellie had a heart attack in 1973, there was not a Dr. in either Allora or Clifton. Choice for ongoing treatment was to go to the public hospitals in either Warwick or Toowoomba or wait until a visiting physician called twice weekly to the community hospital in Allora.

Sometime later the Shire Council got some federal funding, bulit a retirement village cum nursing home, and a caravan park. Chock full of pensioners. Allora now has a thriving medical practice and a visiting specialists centre. That constant click-click you hear is the sound of the Medicare card machines in use as the medical fraternity visits and bulk bills all the pensioners in the homes and at the practices. Not "build it and they will come" but "wave the money at them and they will come".

Am I disillusioned and cynical?

[George130]

Sorry to hear JD.
This is what is going on all over country NSW.
We are 20 mins from Yass but if an ambulance is dispatched they normally come from Harden and take up to 45 mins:angel:.

The visit Casualty is also a standard response in Yass when you wish to see a doctor.

[ivery819]

Sorry to hear JD.
This is what is going on all over country NSW.

I can confirm that the Far South Coast and Monaro of NSW are in the same sort of predicament !:eek:

And just to make it "easier" for the oldies to seek medical treatment, at greater distances, they are making it harder to retain their driving licences !:mad:

[Shonky]

You scared me for a minute there John - I thought the title was referring to your own health! :o


Yep - the health system is screwed. It is bad in Sydney, but we have nothing on rural areas.

I consider myself fortunate that:

1) I almost never get sick, and when I do it is almost never serious (I got Glandular Fever about two years ago. I was knocked out for 3 days, hazy for two and then I was fine and have been since. The person I got it off was ill for months and had to drop out of Uni. She still gets recurrances...)

2) I have access to health care here in the big city - not like out at the farm...

[JohnF]

I do recon any new doctors medicare provider numbers should only be given for country practices [after they have finished any internship/post graduate medicine training that is] If the government did this then it would help aleviate shortages of doctors in the country. After say ten years of practice in the country the doctors should then be allowed to move to the city if they wish. But if they have done a few compolsery years in the country, then a numberof them may choose to stay in the country. Most doctors think they are better off in the city so want to go there. this would be a partial remidy.

[JDNSW]

I do recon any new doctors medicare provider numbers should only be given for country practices [after they have finished any internship/post graduate medicine training that is] If the government did this then it would help aleviate shortages of doctors in the country. After say ten years of practice in the country the doctors should then be allowed to move to the city if they wish. But if they have done a few compolsery years in the country, then a numberof them may choose to stay in the country. Most doctors think they are better off in the city so want to go there. this would be a partial remidy.

This might be a partial solution, but I do not know of any real solution. The management of GWAHS is not good, but the basic problem seems to a combination of a number of factors -

1. NSW governments regard the state as consisting of Newcastle Sydney Wollongong.

2. How the state government has managed to be in a serious cash shortage after years of record revenue is a mystery to me - all I can think of is gross mismanagement together with a bloated bureaucracy. The real costs of all the feel-good regulations and paperwork are coming home to roost.

3. Health costs in real terms are increasing, despite improvements in general health. This is largely because there are more treatments available plus doctors (and others) doing a lot of barely justifiable tests and treatments to protect themselves from litigation. This is encouraged by the tendency for people to go to the doctor for symptoms that would have never considered going for fifty years ago. But again, as in 2., bloated bureaucracy drives up costs out of all proportion to the problems it is designed to prevent.

4. People going into medical professions are chosen basically on academic scores and parental pressure, not suitability for the job.


Not directly related to health, but it is interesting that the NSW government has just announced the second major increase in a year in green slip (Compulsory third party insurance) costs. This after a year with the lowest accident statistics on record. So if the accidents rate was way down, and certainly the number of cars paying this charge is substantially up, where is this money going? Presumably into higher health costs? or bureaucracy?

John

[ivery819]

An interesting update on this issue.
It appears that all 220 NSW public hospitals are broke:mad:
Read more here (http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24990508-5001021,00.html)

[303gunner]

2. How the state government has managed to be in a serious cash shortage after years of record revenue is a mystery to me - all I can think of is gross mismanagement together with a bloated bureaucracy. The real costs of all the feel-good regulations and paperwork are coming home to roost.

John
It's no Mystery. The rest of Australia has bled NSW dry. Since the GST was introduced in 2000, NSW has been on a slow decline of tax revenue, facing pressure to revoke state taxes in return for receiving GST dividends, NSW has consistently received less GST revenue than the proportion raised within the State, and less than the previous State tax revenue forgone. Complaints to the Fed Govt that we weren't getting enough fell on deaf ears with Howard saying that every cent of GST revenue was returned to the states, and if we'd like more, we'd have to fight the other states at the Premier's conference. Naturally, state's like Qld and WA were quite happy to keep their share and use it to keep down their local taxes like fuel levies and registrations at our expense.

While you can argue the the NSW Govt is mismanaging the state (with funding problems not just affecting Health, but also Education, Police, Transport, Roads, Power Generation, Fire Service, Nat Pks......... etc, etc), I think they're doing all that could be done with the minimal amount they've got. Just about every problem in the State revolves around funding, and the blame for that lies with the GST.

[101 Ron]

The rot goes back in NSW alot farther than 2000 and If you do your home work I think you will find NSW was very happy to jump on the GST band wagon as they were alot better off with it.
I remember a Olympic games which was not going to cost us a cent and yet it cost us two payments one of 400 million and 600 million........I remember at the time if that would have made the difference in the hospitals.
My wife is a nurse and was very happy to leave the public system and work in a retirement village as she was better off and didn't have to put up with alot of shortages and management issues.
I see now everywhere a lot more government cars and people which show up at different things or emergencies all on the government payroll with all the good perks etc.
My self as a very hard working self employed person is busting my bottom just to put food on the table and pay all the increasing state, local and federal taxes which go up every year when my income doesn't.
There are too many people on the state government payroll.
A school teacher wouldn't believe me when I told of the fact I don't get 17 and a half percent loading every time I go on holidays ,,,,,,,,,and the only holidays I get at all are the public ones as if I don't perform I will not survive in my work and the opposition company will get the work !

[101 Ron]

What was the name of that health minister that did not cut it ?
Areeba Meaher ? (spelling)
She did not do a thing except stuff up and was only running the show for a short period of time.
She has retired now at 41 years age with a very good super and perks for the rest of her life.
That's where the money is going.
Currently we have a old union crow-nee running NSW health.........what does he know about medial matters and making the public dollar count .
We need people who have learnt to make dollars count in real life and have some sort of medial back ground to run things instead of jobs for the boys.

[JDNSW]

It's no Mystery. The rest of Australia has bled NSW dry. Since the GST was introduced in 2000, NSW has been on a slow decline of tax revenue, facing pressure to revoke state taxes in return for receiving GST dividends, NSW has consistently received less GST revenue than the proportion raised within the State, and less than the previous State tax revenue forgone. Complaints to the Fed Govt that we weren't getting enough fell on deaf ears with Howard saying that every cent of GST revenue was returned to the states, and if we'd like more, we'd have to fight the other states at the Premier's conference. Naturally, state's like Qld and WA were quite happy to keep their share and use it to keep down their local taxes like fuel levies and registrations at our expense.

While you can argue the the NSW Govt is mismanaging the state (with funding problems not just affecting Health, but also Education, Police, Transport, Roads, Power Generation, Fire Service, Nat Pks......... etc, etc), I think they're doing all that could be done with the minimal amount they've got. Just about every problem in the State revolves around funding, and the blame for that lies with the GST.

I don't think this is an adequate explanation - NSW (and Victoria) have been on the short end of federal funding ever since federation. This was (part of) the price that they had to pay to get federation, and the GST changed nothing (the "minor" states paid more for everything to prop up manufacturing etc in NSW and Vic for seventy-five or more years). The revenue from GST has far exceeded estimates, so there if indeed it is providing less than the state taxes forgone (most of which are still applied anyway) the (previous) state government is to blame for wanting to agree to it.

I think that apart from simple mismanagement, there has been a whole range of state government initiatives whose cost has not been even considered. A lot of these have decreased revenue by driving business away from the state.

John

[JDNSW]

What was the name of that health minister that did not cut it ?
Areeba Meaher ? (spelling)
She did not do a thing except stuff up and was only running the show for a short period of time.
She has retired now at 41 years age with a very good super and perks for the rest of her life.
That's where the money is going.
Currently we have a old union crow-nee running NSW health.........what does he know about medial matters and making the public dollar count .
We need people who have learnt to make dollars count in real life and have some sort of medial back ground to run things instead of jobs for the boys.


Reeba Meagher I think.

I suspect typical of the GWAHS problem is that most of the problems are the fault of the CEO - who is a doctor; a doctor of philosophy in management.

Perhaps symptomatic of the state's (and the modern idea) of emphasis on paper qualifications and measuring results only in $.

John

[Bigbjorn]

If the NSW government is short of funds all they have to do is think up and levy some new taxes. Every time I go to Sydney (and Melbourne) I can see the obvious signs of prosperity. The city is awash with wealth. Expensive imported cars everywhere, Porsches commonplace, high end Benz, BMW, Audi likewise. Once you might see a Ferrari every sixmonth but now they are seen daily. Expensive shops and prestige brand name franchises all over. Well dressed people. Pubs, clubs, restaurants all busy. Expensive housing. Bays and marinas chock full of expensive boats. There is wealth out there yet untaxed. Rivers of money.

[rick130]

It's no Mystery. The rest of Australia has bled NSW dry. Since the GST was introduced in 2000, NSW has been on a slow decline of tax revenue,
<snip>

Actually, NSW should have been swimming in revenue from the housing boom. As Stamp Duties boomed (it hadn't been budgeted for ) Treasury was rolling in it, so where has all that gone ?
Add to that Royalties from Coal mining (when was the last time you heard of a coal mine knocked back ??) as well as all the other income streams (eg vehicle registration, in fact most registrations are more than the other states) this state should be in far better financial health than it is.

As JD says, it's straight out mismanagement.

[rick130]

If the NSW government is short of funds all they have to do is think up and levy some new taxes. Every time I go to Sydney (and Melbourne) I can see the obvious signs of prosperity. The city is awash with wealth. Expensive imported cars everywhere, Porsches commonplace, high end Benz, BMW, Audi likewise. Once you might see a Ferrari every sixmonth but now they are seen daily. Expensive shops and prestige brand name franchises all over. Well dressed people. Pubs, clubs, restaurants all busy. Expensive housing. Bays and marinas chock full of expensive boats. There is wealth out there yet untaxed. Rivers of money.

Brian, Brian, Brian, you know most of that's on the never-never

[abaddonxi]

When I was in hospital a few years ago I was told that while I was in hospital (public patient) the charges for seeing a specialist went to the state government. The charges for seeing the same specialist at the hospital's outpatient clinic was charged to the Federal government under Medicare.

It was also made clear to me that there was a great enthusiasm for moving the billing along to Medicare as quickly as safely possible.

Explained a lot of things to me.

What a stupid system.

Simon

[BMKal]

It's no Mystery. The rest of Australia has bled NSW dry. Since the GST was introduced in 2000, NSW has been on a slow decline of tax revenue, facing pressure to revoke state taxes in return for receiving GST dividends, NSW has consistently received less GST revenue than the proportion raised within the State, and less than the previous State tax revenue forgone. Complaints to the Fed Govt that we weren't getting enough fell on deaf ears with Howard saying that every cent of GST revenue was returned to the states, and if we'd like more, we'd have to fight the other states at the Premier's conference. Naturally, state's like Qld and WA were quite happy to keep their share and use it to keep down their local taxes like fuel levies and registrations at our expense.

While you can argue the the NSW Govt is mismanaging the state (with funding problems not just affecting Health, but also Education, Police, Transport, Roads, Power Generation, Fire Service, Nat Pks......... etc, etc), I think they're doing all that could be done with the minimal amount they've got. Just about every problem in the State revolves around funding, and the blame for that lies with the GST.

How many times ave we heard this before.

Poor old NSW. It's all the fault of the other states.

Hang on while I go and get my tissues and a violin.

[abaddonxi]

Oh yes, I want a Dubbo doctor.:eek:

Dubbo doctor in hot water for posing as prostitute on YouTube - National (http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/doctor-poses-as-youtube-prostitute/2009/02/01/1233423045515.html)


Dubbo doctor in hot water for posing as prostitute on YouTube

Kate Benson Medical Reporter
February 2, 2009

HE HAS written books on Satanism, claims to have invented medical equipment that was "produced later under somebody else's name" and says he feels safer living among kangaroos, but now a country doctor has found himself in hot water over a series of bizarre videos posted on the internet.

Sean Tari, 40, a general practitioner in Dubbo, posted three videos on YouTube last month, showing himself posing as a female prostitute, ordering pizzas without bases and asking a medical centre receptionist for a rectal examination with a Chinese doctor because "they have smaller fingers".

Dr Tari, who practises at the Western Plains Medical Centre, removed the videos, listed under the pseudonym Funnisean, after he was contacted by detectives, but the behaviour has angered a local MP, Dawn Fardell, who says business operators should not have to put up with "this nonsense".
"This man is 40, not 12, and he is counselling people who have their own problems. He's welcome here in Dubbo but he needs to get some help because as a leader in the community this is not acceptable behaviour," she said.

In the first video, Dr Tari is seen ringing a medical centre in Eastwood, telling the receptionist his mother had just died and he needed a rectal examination, but wanted to see a Chinese doctor because the last time he had a similar exam at the centre a Bangladeshi doctor "with big fingers" had caused him pain.

In another, he calls Domino's Pizza in Dubbo, and attempts to order a Hawaiian pizza without ham and pineapple and another without a base. After tying up the operator for several minutes, he asks for the order to be delivered to an address in Sydney.

In the third video, Dr Tari calls a Parramatta brothel, called Midnight Delight, and impersonates a woman "just off the boat". He tells the receptionist he is looking for work as a prostitute and asks about pay rates. He is offered an interview, then hangs up, exclaiming "yay, I am a prostitute".

Dr Tari has a website promoting his "anti-religious views" and his work as an author, which he says is an outlet for his "mental diarrhoea". He claims to have had 27 books published, including one called Satanica - Encyclopedia Of Satan. He said he was arrested in 1999 by the Iranian intelligence service and suffered 13 months of torture before escaping to Australia.

"I feel more safe among kangaroos," he says on his site.

Dr Tari says he invented an electronic scope with no tube and a gloved bag to prevent anthrax contamination but both were "produced later under somebody else's name".

When contacted by the Herald, he would not comment.

Police are yet to confirm if charges will be laid.

[JohnF]

Of course the Pope's vist also cost the taxpayer's billions, and did not bring any money into Australia. Almost every visitor was from a 3rd world country, who had no money. The Hotels in Sydney were empty as th "pilgrims" had no money so stayed and ate at Church halls. I talked to Pilgrams from New Guinie, Thailand, Philipines, and Peru. all third world countries with no money. I also talked with some from New York, but they were full time seminary students, who were relying on others to support them during their Australian visit. So we were told the lie that the Popes visit would bring much income into NSW. Nonsense! It cost the tax-payer billions, and the state government refused to give us the figure. That is why the state has no money now. If you were in Sydney and saw it, you would see why it cost us tax-payers so much.

[ivery819]

@ JohnF

It must be worth something that 'mirrors' got to kiss the Pope's ring ?

[Lotz-A-Landies]

...This is the place where the nurses have been borrowing supplies from a local vet and where doctors have been paying for medication out of their own pockets, and where secretaries have been buying printing paper out of their own pockets so they can do their job. This is the area health service that was serving vegetarian meals to hospital patients in Gilgandra because the local butcher refused to supply any more meat until he got paid for invoices owing for nearly a year. Can you imagine how they will cope with an influx of additional patients who cannot see a GP?

JohnJohn it all sounds very disgraceful, not that you would hear it from me, it would be a breach of policy and code of conduct but the funding crisis is the same in the city. A hospital senior pharmacist, whom I know well, was asked by the media why they had not been supplying particular cancer drugs, she replied that the Hospital had not paid its bill with the pharmaceutical company so they would not supply. The next day the Hospital's senior executive did a media interview where he called the pharmacist a liar. The same hospital, a nurse manager had to go to the local hardware shop to buy a tin of paint out of her own pocket so the painters could paint a door, apparently the Area Health Service had not paid the bill of the paint supply company.

The same Hospital is apparently running over the NSW Health allocated budget by $300,000.00 per month. The budget allocation includes a 6% annual productive gain. Which means that every year the budget is calculated taking into account the CPI increases (which are very different and lower than the increases in medical costs) and 6% is then deducted, also deducted is the budget over-run from the previous year. The result if the Hospital in question had no debts for last year and continues at the current rate, it will have 3.6 million dollars less than the total budget for this year and that will have 6% deducted so we can run next year. Add to that the A$ is now at US$0.62 and Australia makes almost no medical equipment or major pharmaceuticals and you will get the picture.

Never let it be said that I mentioned anything like this about my employer.

[Bigbjorn]

Brian, Brian, Brian, you know most of that's on the never-never

I know, they have got them on the drip, so the Govt. should collect a few of the drips. Need to act quickly as the drips evaporate when the six figure jobs vanish and the newly unemployed find they are now labourers and shop assistants.

[George130]

First 6 months working in a particular government department health facility and we were buying our own stationary. We got 1 box of pens supplied while I was there so the CO handed them out to those who could give him an empty pen in return.

[Bigbjorn]

First 6 months working in a particular government department health facility and we were buying our own stationary. We got 1 box of pens supplied while I was there so the CO handed them out to those who could give him an empty pen in return.

A department store chain used to do this. New pen for old. Hand in a used scribble pad, both sides of the page used, to get another. They also had metal tubes in which a worn short pencil could be inserted to be able to wear the pencil right down to a stub.

[rick130]

Crippled system left for dead - National - smh.com.au (http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/crippled-system-left-for-dead/2009/01/30/1232818725601.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1)


anuary 31, 2009
Hospitals are leaving a trail of unpaid bills across the state but, as Kate Benson discovers, nobody is being held to account.
IF the NSW health system was a patient, it would be struggling for air, festering wounds dotting its limbs and not a relative in sight to wipe its fevered brow.
As the Greater Western Area Health Service was admitted to intensive care this week, under a mountain of unpaid bills stretching back more than four months, those charged with its care fell over themselves to leave the room.
Buck-passing and finger-pointing became more popular than an ice cube at the tennis as everyone from the Premier, Nathan Rees, to the director-general of NSW Health, Debora Picone, and Greater Western's chief executive, Claire Blizard, ducked for cover.
Even the Health Minister, John Della Bosca, was not making anyone accountable, despite six of the eight area health services owing creditors $113 million by last Thursday.
Only two, Sydney South West and Hunter New England, were clear of debt. The Children's Hospital at Westmead, which manages itself, owed $4.5 million.
Last year the Garling inquiry heard that the non-payment or late payment of bills was common across NSW and routinely led to the suspension of services and delays in supplying goods.
In the past few months, patients in the Greater Western area have gone without meat and vegetables, and a Parkes security firm threatened to withdraw its services, putting nurses' lives at risk, to get the money it was owed.
But the problems stretch across the state. Nurses at Mudgee use petty cash to buy blood glucose strips from the chemist while those at Orange bought cupcake papers to use as medication dispensers because there are no pill cups.
Merimbula taxi drivers, Dubbo coffee shops, Broken Hill computer technicians and security guards from Hay, to name a few, were all lining up this week with their palms out.
Sydney has not been immune. Last year the pharmacy at the Sydney Children's Hospital was without hot water for three days because of unpaid bills, and patients' files at Prince of Wales are not sent to treating doctors because courier companies are all owed money.
Nathan Rees, however, was "too busy with other things" on Tuesday to discuss the crisis or the $117.5 million owed across the state. He spent the day at a Penrith high school encouraging teenagers to stay longer at school. Fabulous careers in politics - or health management - awaited them if they could hold out until 17.
Here's hoping none had aspirations to be surgeons. At Dubbo hospital, staff have gone days without gloves and bandages, patients have lacked morphine and those in intensive care spent five days this week sweltering in 37 degree heat because suppliers and maintenance workers had cancelled services pending payment.

Rees's advisers angrily asked if we had taken up the matter with the health minister and the Health Department. After all, it was a health matter.
The Health Department's boss, Picone, had not spoken on the issue since it boiled over days earlier and her advisers seemed bemused about our request for a comment. It was an area health service matter, and they look after themselves, they said.
Picone was willing to issue a two-line statement saying one small business operator, owed $6000, would be paid that day, but she was not prepared to talk about anything else. She changed her tune the next day, phoning to explain how the situation had become so dire.
Costs had spiralled since the Australian dollar fell, distances in the Greater Western area were huge and retaining staff was near to impossible, Picone said.
She made no excuses for late payments and stressed that she had firmly told the health service's boss, Blizard, that she had five months to clean up the mess. But there was no mention of heads on the chopping block if the debt remained.
Blizard is in charge of an area health service employing more than 7000 people and covering 56 per cent of the state. She deals with 6500 creditors a year, offering up 30,000 invoices and manages $460 million a year of public money.
Last year her health service owed creditors $60 million. Thanks to a $28 million advance from the health minister, and stern words from Picone, last week that debt was down to $23 million. But in rural areas, where she prefers to do most of her business, that still represents a lot of heartache for small operators employing only a handful of staff and relying on drought-stricken residents to keep food on their tables.
When the Herald approached her in Dubbo on Wednesday, she hid behind closed doors and sent someone out to ask that we "move down the street or go and have a cup of coffee" so she could slip away.
We politely declined and waited in 38 degree heat on a public bench outside the door.
Exiting out the back door would not have looked good. Half an hour later a visibly uncomfortable Blizard relented and agreed to answer questions - but not in the street.
The credit crisis had been building, she said vaguely, but had only became a monumental problem unexpectedly in the middle of last year. She was doing her very best to resolve the issue but creditors needed to ring her hotline if they expected to get paid.
Submitting an invoice with a due date was simply not good enough. And neither was expecting payment in less than 45 days, despite the State Government giving its creditors only 28 days to pay.
Security of staff seemed to be paramount, but food supplies were not. She was vague on staffing numbers, unclear as to who was still owed money and could give no end date to the crisis for desperate business owners. "I am aiming to make an improvement but it may not be done by June," she smiled, seemingly confident that her job was not on the line.
Later that evening, she supped at an upmarket restaurant with bureaucrats, glass of wine in hand and a smile on her face.
The circus starts again. But who is tending to the patient?

[THE BOOGER]

I have had two kidney transplants and numerous operations over the last ten years, when i go to hospital i am always asked to sign a medicare assignment form. I have to sign several medicare forms for pathology, they keep them and send away with each path test so if all my bills are going to fed govt where is all the money from the state budget going:confused:. hospitals, trains, buses, police, education etc all running out of money. WHAT IS GOING ON IT IS SIMPLY NOT ACCEPTABLE !!! :mad:

[Ralph1Malph]

Ahh, NSW health, what a State it has become.
Have you all considered a clean out at Macquarie St? Couldn't hurt could it?:p
What does your local member have to say for his/herself?
I suspect that QLD health is not far behind, but we'll fix that later this year:D

BTW, when we were federated, the states really only had a few responsibilities, Health and Education being big ones, along with providing a revenue office, post master service and some trains.
How they have botched it!:mad:

Still, hope it all works out for everyone.

Ralph

[Bigbjorn]

Ahh, NSW health, what a State it has become.
Have you all considered a clean out at Macquarie St?

I suspect that QLD health is not far behind, but we'll fix that later this year:D


Ralph

Do you really think that the alternative is any better?

Look at the unlovely lot in opposition in Qld. Imagine them in government. Dominated by the Country Crooks (sorry, National Party) and a billionaire who is trying to buy himself a government.

The NSW opposition couldn't suck boiled lollies without frequent re-instruction and close supervision.

[Lotz-A-Landies]

...
BTW, when we were federated, the states really only had a few responsibilities, Health and Education being big ones, along with providing a revenue office, post master service and some trains. ...
Not to take any heat off the issue, but income tax only passed from the states to the Federal Government during the second world war, as a temporary measure, they never handed it back.

[303gunner]

And the Commonwealth Police (now the AFP) were only created in 1917 after somebody lobbed an egg at Billy Hughes and a Queensland Police officer refused to act.
Until then, the state's Police forces had enforced Customs and Immigration laws on behalf of the Federal Departments.

[Ralph1Malph]

Do you really think that the alternative is any better?

Look at the unlovely lot in opposition in Qld. Imagine them in government. Dominated by the Country Crooks (sorry, National Party) and a billionaire who is trying to buy himself a government.

The NSW opposition couldn't suck boiled lollies without frequent re-instruction and close supervision.


You may well be correct but how bad do we have to go before we give 'em a go?
I look from the point of view that health care in Oz can't get much worse so it's worth taking a risk!
My sister is a nurse and refuses to work in the public hospital system as it's downright dangerous and inept. I'm willing to take a chance on a drovers dog having a go!

Someone has to try and fix the State hospitals! I reckon us landy owners could even have a fair crack at it!

Ralph

[Bigbjorn]

You may well be correct but how bad do we have to go before we give 'em a go?
I look from the point of view that health care in Oz can't get much worse so it's worth taking a risk!
My sister is a nurse and refuses to work in the public hospital system as it's downright dangerous and inept. I'm willing to take a chance on a drovers dog having a go!

Someone has to try and fix the State hospitals! I reckon us landy owners could even have a fair crack at it!

Ralph

Like the great majority, neither I nor any member of my family have ever had a problem with public hospitals. Longest I have had to wait was four months for surgical repair of an umbilical hernia. My wife and I both have spinal problems, hers congenital, mine from an accident and both of us have had extensive efficient treatment from orthopaedics, physio, plastic surgery. I think a lot of the winges about the public hospital system come from people with unreasonable expectations of immediate treatment. Typically they seem to think that there should be a team waiting just for them in case they have a heart attack, or get pi**ed and fall down the stairs.

[THE BOOGER]

I think we should expect fast efficent treatment if we accept less we are letting our selves down, pregnet women should not be miscarrying in the toilets, heart attack victoms should not die at home the next day and we should not leave hospital sicker than we went in. We are the last time i asked a first world country if we let the pollies get away with what is happening then it is our fault. We get the goverment we ask for.If the state govt cant run hospitals properly then hand the money and the hostpitals over the the feds they seem to have plenty of our money to spend.:twisted:mad:

sorry but i have seem our hospitals going down hill at ever increasing speed the last 10 to 15 years as a very regular patient.