NHS satisfaction has jumped at its fastest rate since 1998, but the evidence suggests politics and media narratives may matter more than actual care.
Articles on Health reform
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Australia has more nurses per person than many countries. Allowing nurses in general practice to use all their skills could help meet the growing demand for care.
Hospitals are expensive and often traumatic places to provide mental health care.
Australians will save on the costs of scripts and on GP visits. But the budget doesn’t start the reforms needed to secure the health system’s long-term future.
Vaccination rates vary widely from GP to GP. Here’s why – and what governments need to do about it.
Medicare encourages providers to deliver more services, not to deliver good quality care. Here’s why that needs to change.
We now have a sensible pathway to improve access to health care, using the skills of nurses, pharmacists and GPs appropriately.
The Māori Health Authority is gone, but a law remains that puts primary focus on reducing health inequities – meaning the government may struggle to bridge the gap between rhetoric and policy priority.
Rather than bold reforms that will safeguard Australians’ aged care services into the future, the taskforce largely recommends tidying up and keeping the status quo. And getting users to pay more.
Australia’s aged care system is undergoing significant change, but is still governed by an act more than 25 years old. Can the government meet its mid-year deadline for the next round of reforms?
National Cabinet is meeting today to discuss hospital funding, and the interconnected issues of NDIS reform and GST allocation. But how are hospitals actually funded? And what’s GST got to do with it?
Access to dental care in Australia is worse than ever and is simply unaffordable to many.
Yes, savings from increased participation in private insurance outweigh the costs the government incurs by subsidising private health insurance rebates. But rebates can be better targeted.
Nurses make up more than 50% of the health workforce and have untapped and under-used skills that could ease the skills gap in our health system.
A new review of Australian health care workers’ scope of practice should focus on expanding pharmacists prescribing for stable conditions and long-term medications, under the direction of a GP.
MyMedicare is a new voluntary scheme that allows patients to register with their usual GP. How will it work? And how might it benefit patients? Here’s what we know so far.
The big news on budget night was a tripling of the bulk-billing incentive. It’s hoped to stem the decline in bulk billing – but it’s unclear if it will increase it.
The Pharmacy Guild head wept at the thought of pharmacies losing income from a change that allows people with chronic diseases to halve their prescription costs. What’s going on?
In Australia’s bulk-billing ‘deserts’, it’s incredibly difficult to find a doctor who will bulk bill. The government should step in to support or set up clinics so locals have access to health care.
Health outcomes continue to be influenced by geography, with local communities having to plug gaps in services. The health reforms offer a chance to strengthen local networks to respond better.
Top contributors
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Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne
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Program Director, Health and Aged Care, Grattan Institute
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Reader in Health Economics, Centre for Health Economics, University of York
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Professor of Health Economics and Director, Centre for Health Economics, Monash Business School, Monash University
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Professor of Health Economics and Director, Centre for Health Economics Research and Evaluation, University of Technology Sydney
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Jim Gillespie is a Friend of The Conversation.
Associate Professor in Health Policy, Leeder Centre for Health Policy, Economics and Data & Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney
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Lecturer, Public Sector Finance, University of Canberra
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Adjunct Associate Professor, Menzies Centre for Health Policy and Economics, University of Sydney
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Professor of Health Economics, University of Technology Sydney
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Health economist, University of Sydney
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Professor and Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University
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Associate Professor, Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney; University of Canberra
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Associate, Grattan Institute
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Professor of Health Economics, University of Bologna, University of Newcastle
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Emeritus Professor, Menzies Centre for Health Policy, University of Sydney