Health system gets bitter pill
The WA Health Budget will increase just 1.4 per cent next year, its lowest annual rise in living memory.
And WA Health's huge task to reduce the cost of services in line with national benchmarks has become harder because other States have improved.
A widening gap between WA's efficiency and the rest of Australia came as the Australian Medical Association of WA bemoaned a "paltry" $100 million rise in overall health funding in 2015-16.
Last year's Budget set the department the task of delivering its services 8 per cent cheaper by 2017-18, described by doctors as impossible given WA's remoteness.
But since then, all other States have become more efficient, led by Queensland with a 12 per cent improvement. WA is now 10.3 per cent dearer than the national average.
States have been given more time to fall to the national average in recognition of the goalposts being moved, but WA has a long way to go.
Its targets over the next five financial years are to be 9.1 per cent above the national average in 2015-16, then 7.6 per cent, 5.9 per cent, 4 per cent and to meet it in 2020-21.
Treasury warned yesterday it would take "substantial and sustained improvements to the efficiency of public hospital service delivery" to meet the targets and listed failure as a significant Budget risk.
But Treasurer Mike Nahan said the Health Department's efforts had been impressive given the task and it had not overspent this year.
Health expenditure in 2015-16 will be $8.1 billion, with an extra $417 million for hospital activity over four years.
AMA WA president Michael Gannon said the allocation was a real cut because it was below CPI and "dramatically below medical CPI" and would not meet the continuing increase in demand and rise in costs.
He said $19 million for ageing Royal Perth Hospital was woefully inadequate.
Shadow health minister Roger Cook said the Government continued to renege on its election promise to spend $200 million on RPH.
He said the real cut to health would be at the expense of staffing and frontline services.
The Budget also revealed $25.9 million over four years for a suicide prevention strategy, $50 million for Aboriginal health and $19.4 million for extra Perth mental health beds.
