Monday, March 15, 2010

FOX IN CHARGE OF THE HEN HOUSE Tuesday 9th March 2010

I've been looking through the list of people who were on the Health and Hospitals Reform Commission. Most of them are from the medical and nursing industries. And, surprise, surprise, guess what their report is all about, more doctors and nurses.

Their report is titled 'A healthier future for all Australians'. Nothing could be further from the truth. Not many Australians will get fitter and healthier by reading this vacuous report.

How could you write a report without mentioning the fitness industry? How could you write about school health and only mention the employment of nurses in ? The Reform Commission did.

'We are recommending that all primary schools have access to a child and family health nurse
for promoting and monitoring children’s health, development and well being. Universal access to ‘school nurses’ is an important component of our ‘one health system’ approach. Under the proposed integration of all publicly funded primary health care services, we would expect that there are effective protocols and good communication between child and family health nurses in schools and the family’s GP or primary health care service. Both have an important role to play. Primary health care services have responsibility for the continuing management of children’s health, while ‘school nurses’ have a vital role in early identification of disease, health promotion, advice and education to children and their families. Child and family health nurses are also important to support families who might otherwise ‘fall through the cracks’.

They suggested setting up a National Health Promotion and Prevention Agency. You can be pretty certain they won't be making recommendations about aerobic fitness, strength and flexibility.

This is a vapid, useless and incompetently prepared report. It's what happens when you put foxes in charge of the hen house.

And whatever they're talking about, they're talking about giving money to the foxes.

'As an indicative estimate, the full year annual recurrent costs of implementing our reforms to Australia’s health system are between $2.8 billion and $5.7 billion. In addition, an investment in capital over five years of between $4.3 billion and $7.3 billion would be required to transform the system’s infrastructure to enable our reforms. We note that changes to the actual level of expenditure in any one year will depend on the pace of the implementation of the reforms. If phased in over several years, as we anticipate, the impact on expenditure in any one year could be quite modest.'

An 'indicative estimate.' $13B more to be sucked down the medical black hole.

You could just about give every adult Australian a free gym membership for that.

I'll lay you London to a brick that after that money has been spent the Government will set up another Commission to recommend twice as much money be spent on 'fixing the medical system.'

The non-medical representatives on the Commission, Geoff Gallop and Mary O’Loughlin should be ashamed of themselves.

There will be no healthier future for Australians from this report.

On the track
No track today. Taking it easy, letting Achilles calm down.

In the meantime stay tuned, highly tuned and lead a protest to get a nurse into every primary school in Australia.

John Miller
www.fiotandhealthyonline.com
www.back-pain-cause.com

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