Are+YOU+a+Hardworking,+Tax-Paying+Australian?+Our+Health+System+is+in+Need+of+Real+Action!

**Vote Liberal: Stand Up For Real Action** **‘Keeping the Bastards Honest’: What do Labor, the Liberals, and the Greens Bring to the Public Health Table? Who should we vote for from a Public Health Perspective and Why?** Jade Hajdu 08086958 Tutor: Emily Mann A Billboard on Cairns’ Southern Highway that promotes the Liberal National Party’s plans for the public health system in Cairns. The billboard reads “We Can Deliver a First Rate Health System.” The Australian Labor Party (ALP) holds the seat for Cairns as well as the powers in the State Government. The billboard was erected in light of the health crisis in Cairns. Matters pertaining to this crisis include the doctors and nurses of Cairns Base Hospital being over-worked, Cairns Base Hospital desperately needing its long-overdue upgrade, mishandling of patients on surgery waiting lists, shortage of resources and equipment needed for treatment of chronic patients and of course, bed shortages. Public outcry is in place as Cairns Base Hospital continues to be neglected by Queensland Health, meanwhile hospital developments are underway in the electorate of South Brisbane, a seat held by Ms. Anna Bligh herself.
 * Who do YOU vote for? Why? **
 * [please add comment on discussion page] **
 * Cultural Artefact and Identified Public Health Issue **

Essentially the root of the public health issue is poor management and implementation of the ALP’s National Health and Hospitals Network, the reform which promised change. Kevin Rudd led the country with high hopes for change in 2007, however in light of recent party-leadership changes and other political issues the National Health Reform has been put on the backburner by Prime Minister Julia Gillard in order to focus on matters like the Carbon Tax, Immigration Policy [Malaysia “Solution”], pitching for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, and QANTAS union strikes. The original problem still remains, that is the need for improved health care facilities and better management of services.

The pressing need for an upgrade in services of Cairns Base Hospital is great. The National Median Waiting time [2009-2010] for General Elective Surgery is 31 days (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2011). At Cairns Base Hospital, 3.2% of patients who had received general elective surgery had been waiting for longer than 365 days. The national average is in fact 2.1% of patients having waited more than one year for surgery. An amputee and local pensioner named Bill Jones reported in February 2009 "I've been waiting months for surgery, only to be told I'm not even on the waiting list," (Moore, 2009, para. 2) going on to describe the types of lists: High Priority, Low Priority, then no list. These lists have maximum capacities and Mr. Jones had not yet reached the Low Priority waiting list, despite needing further surgery after his amputation to be able to have prosthetics fitted. The poor management of the patients needing general elective surgery at Cairns Base Hospital has promoted outcry from local residents needing a better health system. It is not fair that 3.2% of patients at Cairns Base Hospital having general elective surgery were made to wait over a year, especially when compared to patients at the Mater Adult Hospital; whose median waiting time was 12 days, and 0.1% of patients were made to wait more than a year (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2011).
 * Literature Review **

It is these inequalities and poor management of health care that current Liberal Party policy aims to eradicate. The Coalition's Plan for Real Action for Hospitals and Nursing (Liberal Party of Australia, 2010) includes several steps to a better health system. The steps in this plan include:

In order to achieve the needs of different communities, power needs to be handed over from centralised bureaucracies down to community boards. This is especially critical to achieve equality of health in Aboriginal Communities. Congress in Central Australia was established in 1973 as a flagship community-controlled cabinet to run the health care systems (Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, 2011) and has been remarkably successful in providing Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians with effective, comprehensive and appropriate health care. Congress has also been an advocate for the Aboriginal People in regards to political matters, and has assisted communities to take health matters into their own hands.
 * 1. Develop a community-controlled public hospital system**

The Coalition aims to provide funding to hospitals without the need to go through complicated bureaucracies established with the National Health Reform. The application of transparency in Government is remarkable in achieving accountability and therefore savings (Andrews, 2011). The development of technology has facilitated this step, with websites such as [|www.usaspending.gov] enabling citizens to see where their tax-dollars are directly being spent. Money-funnelling to special interest groups and pork-barrelling money to marginal (swing) electorates would be easily exposed, and the chance of exposure would reduce these incidences of inappropriate spending. Perhaps a transparent funding model should be applied to all Government sectors.
 * 2. Provide a transparent and sustainable funding model**

New beds are needed to alleviate pressure from busy public hospitals by allowing more patients to be admitted and for those existing patients to stay longer (and not be overseen in a hurry to free a bed).
 * 3. Fund 2,800 new public beds**

4. **Establish a major ‘Nursing Professional Development’ Fund** Nurses are the lifeblood of the public health system. The Coalition appreciates this, and this fund will allow for professional development of nurses. The professional development will promote clinical best-practice in our health care environments (hospitals, etc).

People living in remote areas generally have less access to health care, as there are much less practitioners the farther you travel from major cities. This is not true for nurses, however, as the number of nurses per person is much higher in inner and outer regional areas than it is for doctors (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2006). See Figure 1. The boundary of traditional nursing is changing. Training and educating nurses furthermore into ‘nurse practitioners’ is one way to provide Australians living in areas with limited access to General medical practitioners a chance to have fair treatment.
 * 5. Create 100 additional scholarships for rural and regional Nurse Practitioners**

//Figure 1.// **SELECTED OCCUPATIONS BY REMOTENESS, Rate per 100,000 population, 2006** Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2006. Once nurses living in regional areas become trained as ‘nurse-practitioners’, there may be temptation to move to the major cities for better opportunities to work. Paying the nurse practitioners bonuses will encourage the nurses to stay in their established regional town.
 * 6. Pay annual bonuses to Nurse Practitioners in regional towns**

The world is on the verge of medical breakthroughs about breast cancer, prostate cancer, Type 1 Diabetes, etc. Investing in this research will help lead to cures and prevent costs on the medical system associated with future illnesses.
 * 7. Invest in Health and Medical Research**

This transparency will be achieved with support of the private industry through compliance campaigns.
 * 8. Improve transparency of health and hospital costs by strengthening Informed Financial Consent**

The Liberal Party’s approach to delivering a first-rate health system is no-nonsense direct plan which will avoid bureaucracy and money-wastage. With the budget in deficit and the country in debt, proper financial management is crucial in achieving any positive population health changes. A solution to these debts is not to tax the citizens further, to pay off the debts; but rather to avoid them initially.

The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party, which is a mix of conservatism and liberalism. Together with the National Party, the Liberal Party forms the Coalition on a federal level. Sir Robert G Menzies once famously said in a speech to the Liberal Federal Council “//Our first question is not whether the Government could do this thing, but whether private citizens could. If the answer is that they could, our answer is that they should//” (1964). This expression perfectly encapsulates the essence of the Liberal Party’s values. They stand for freedom and responsibility, helping the individual to help himself, and private enterprise. The development of private enterprise is essential in driving the country’s economy. The developments create a choice in the market, which in turn creates competition. Competition drives performance, and performance drives growth.
 * Cultural and Social Analysis **

The Liberal Party supports growth in the public health system through both conservative and liberal measures. For example, by directing funding to where it is needed (like increasing numbers of beds in hospitals) is a conservative way of addressing the public health issue of insufficient bed numbers, long waiting times etc. Also by adding more beds to a hospital, you are adding more employment opportunities as more nurses, clerks and doctors are needed to care for the extra patients. To cater for the demand in human resources, development of training programs is also in place. A liberal measure would include the promotion of the private health sector. By encouraging the individual to take up private health insurance and allowing the development of private hospitals and health care facilities, a //competition// in the health market is established. This is not such a bad thing, as private facilities compete with another to provide better services- health care services. This results in //better health care//.

The success of the ALP at the 2007 election has much to do with international forces. The then-recent election success of Barrack Obama as the first ever African-American US President was a wave that Kevin Rudd rode through election. Barrack Obama represented hope and promised change. Kevin Rudd followed suit with his hope and rhetoric. However the politics of hope is aimed at disillusioned voters who then transpose what they want to feel about themselves and their nation onto the candidate- basing the success of the candidate on emotion, rather than reason (Barry, 2010). Hope however is fleeting, and short-lived. With expectations high and deliverance low, Kevin Rudd was removed as leader of the Labor Party, thus Prime Minister. These events were well publicised and drew a great distraction from the continuing problems of the health care system. Employees and patients continue to be affected by poor political management of the health care system.

The policies and beliefs of the Liberal Party do benefit several groups in a chain-style effect. By increasing bed numbers, patients stand to benefit from shorter waiting times and higher patient uptake. The hospital will require more staff (benefiting the human resources sector) and thus more training is needed at TAFE’s and universities. More teachers will be needed to cater to greater numbers of students. More facilities need to be built to provide learning environments for these students. Growth (thus benefit) is positive across several industries.

The billboard on Cairns’ Southern Highway reading “We can deliver a first rate health system” represents the Liberal local electorate and their approach to residents. The billboard conveys that the party is aware of locals needs. The billboard suggests that by voting for the Liberal candidate they will successfully employ the change needed. For too long residents of North Queensland have had poor facilities at Cairns Base Hospital, and the ALP has taken a very long time to recognise this. The Liberal Party offers to deliver the changes needed. Personally I agree with the ideas suggested by the billboard, as the upgrade to Cairns Base Hospital is long overdue with the first stage only recently reaching completion. The first stage was the car park. I really enjoyed this assessment piece, as it brought to light issues I had never really thought about. I had no idea about the health status in Cairns, as it is so far north. I do suppose that I am not the only one in this position. They too are Queenslanders; are voters; are workers; have families. They have the right to health care just as much as those of us who live in capital cities do. In the future I will appreciate those living outside of the major cities in all aspects, be in work, study or travel. I have also learnt how to make decisions come election time on voting- to base my decision on policy.
 * Analysis of Artefact and My Own Learning Reflection **

Total Word Count: 422
 * Reflective Comments **

Interesting Artefact!! Hi, I found your artefact amusing and it promoted reflection. It is true, so many Gen Y's [and late Gen X's and Gen Z's] spend most of their day on the computer, if not the laptop or desk computer, the iPad, iPhone or Blackberry. It is a hard thing to act against, as most facets of our lives are based around the internet. Take University, for example. In <10 years, the 'Blackboard' website has revolutionised teaching across the country. This Unit, Health Culture and Society does not have a prescribed text- all resources are to be found ONLINE. Ironic, isn't it? I agree with you, there is no 'solution' per se to this issue. The only way to combat the negative side effects without disturbing normal functioning lives would be an education and awareness campaign. Thankyou for an interesting read. Jade Food for thought. An interesting topic highlighted well by your research. In risk of losing dignity, I have some light to shed on this topic.The procedure involves the patient undressing from waist-down (or just removing underwear if wearing a skirt) behind a curtain and covering up on the bed with a towel/sheet. When the patient is ready they let the physician know. The procedure itself last less than 60 seconds, and then you are free to dress again. I think the stigma is greater than the exposure. The procedure of pap smears are recommended for females who are sexually active or over the age of 18. Generally adult females are able to make an informed decision about which doctor they would like to see. You do have to actually book an appointment to see the physician to have this procedure. Its not like you turn up to the doctors office for a checkup and a male physician barges in, sterile prongs in hand, demanding you to drop your pants for a pap smear!! LOL. It is an issue that needs to be combated at the source- that is, general physicians need to be aware of their patients needs and background, and keep that in mind when suggesting procedures. Building trust is essential in this matter. Similarly, I would have liked to see some research about breast screening/checking for lumps. Also a very important test to have, but less stigmatised!!! It also suggests the notion of 'exposure'. Are we more comfortable with exposing our breasts than our vagina's because of the way they are portrayed/revealed in media across society? Are we decensortised to breasts but not yet vagina's? Jade
 * 'THIS IS MODERN LIFE' - The Future for Generation Y?**
 * The P****erversion of The Pap Smear**

Andrews, T. (2011). Towards True Transparency. //Institute of Public Affairs Review, 9//, 13-15. Available from: [|http://www.ipa.org.au]
 * References **

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2006). //Selected Health Occupations, Australia 2006//. Retrieved from []

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2011). //My Hospitals: Cairns Base Hospital.// Retrieved November 1, 2011 from []

Barry, T. (2010). The Post-Hope Prime Minister. //Institute of Public Affairs Review, 8//, 6-8. Retrieved from: [|http://www.ipa.org.au]

Central Australian Aboriginal Congress. (2011). //Aboriginal Health In Aboriginal Hands: History of Congress//. Retrieved September 27, 2011 from []

Menzies, R. G. (1964). //Our Liberal Creed//. Available from: []

Moore, M. (2009, February 28). 70 Year-Old Amputee ‘Not On Waiting List’ [Web log post]. Retrieved from []

The Liberal Party of Australia. (2010). //The Coalition’s Plan For Real Action on Hospitals and Nursing//. Available from []