THE Australian Medical Association is warning regional Australia will be worst hit as a massive shortfall in federal funding for hospitals leads to longer waiting times for elective surgery.
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Association president Brian Owler says the black hole in funding, resulting from successive cuts to states and territories would force greater inequities in smaller states as they struggle to meet the gap.
The AMA says more than $50 billion will be stripped from hospital funding in 2017, on top of cuts made in last year’s budget.
As Prime Minister Tony Abbott sits down today with state and territory leaders for COAG talks, the AMA says governments need to deal with the issue now.
The association’s report says waiting times for elective procedures have not improved at all in the past four years, with patients waiting an average of 36 days for surgery.
It says emergency departments are taking on a greater burden, with a 7.2 per cent rise in the number of those presenting at hospitals across the country.
Prof Owler says the AMA is concerned that unless waiting times improve, procedures that would otherwise be deemed elective would more likely become life threatening, leading to poorer health outcomes and increased morbidities.