The ACT will be given a one-year exemption from a tough new target designed to ensure all elective surgery patients receive their operations on time, under the new national health reform agreement.
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The deal, which was officially agreed to by state, territory and federal leaders yesterday, includes an $19.8billion boost in federal funding for public hospitals through to 2019-20.
The Federal Government will also take responsibility for 50per cent of hospital growth funding from 2014-15 and and a new national health funding pool will be established.
Targets will be set to ensure all patients receive surgery within clinically-recommended times.
Most states will be given until 2014 to ensure 100 per cent of Category 1 and Category 2 elective surgery patients receive their procedures within the recommended time.
They will have until 2015 to meet the target for Category 3 patients.
But the ACT, the Northern Territory and Tasmania will be given an extra year to meet the targets in recognition of the difficulties smaller jurisdictions may experience when trying to increase surgery volumes.
ACT Chief Minister and Health Minister Katy Gallagher said it was reasonable for small jurisdictions to be given extra time because they did not have the same capacity to introduce initiatives such as dedicated public elective surgery centres.
"We just dont have the economies of scale which deliver what the largest jurisdictions do, and I think it's reasonable to apply a small state-small territories overlay to some of those targets, because your system is constrained and your demand is probably the same," she said.
"But we are seeing big improvements in elective surgery and I'm confident well get ahead of the game there."
According to the national health reform agreement papers, the ACT had the lowest average proportion of Category 2 elective surgery patients receive their surgery on time in 2010.
In the ACT, 44.1per cent of Category 2 patients received their treatment on time, compared to next-placed Northern Territory.
But the ACT had the third-highest proportion of Category 1 patients receive their surgery on time, at 91.9per cent. compared to 92.3per cent in NSW and 100per cent in Victoria.
All of the states and territories will be given until 2015 to ensure 90per cent of emergency department patients receive all necessary care or are admitted to hospital within four hours of arrival.
Health reform advocates said yesterday they hoped the new agreement would help end the ''blame game" over health funding. Consumers Health Forum of Australia executive director Carol Bennett said increased transparency was essential for preventing health funding from being wasted.
Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association executive director Prue Power said the new arrangements would make it easier for the public to see what federal and state governments were putting into the health system and how it was being spent. "We should be able to get rid of a lot of that fighting and competitiveness that went on, because well now be able to see the level to which the federal government and the states are funding public hospitals, and there's a formula for the Commonwealth to be funding the public hospitals," Ms Power said.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard said there would be clear transparency and accountability about where public health funds were spent.
"The days of the blank cheque are also gone. This money is being devoted to get major reforms to our hospital system," Ms Gillard said
But Acting Opposition Leader Julie Bishop accused Ms Gillard of putting up the white flag on health reform. "This is the third time in 18 months that Labor has announced historic reform," Ms Bishop said.