HOPING FOR CASH CURE
Hospital’s rising patient numbers too big for state to ignore
THE administrator of Cairns Hospital says the health service is making inroads on its $80m budget blackhole.
But a large growth in patient activity means the service is relying on supercharged funding from the State Government to get back on track.
WE’RE BUSY, WE’VE STAYED BUSY, AND ONE OF THE REASONS FOR THAT IS WE’VE OPENED UP OUR CAPACITY, WITH OUR ED (EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT) CONTINUING TO GROW AT ABOUT 7 PER CENT EACH YEAR TERRY MEHAN
CAIRNS Hospital management is hopeful of a significant boost in funding in the State Budget, backed by sustained growth in patient activity during the past year.
The Hospital and Health Service is still on track to achieve a $52 million operating deficit by the end of the financial year, whittled down from the record-breaking $80 million that auditors initially projected.
CHHHS administrator Terry Mehan, who is set to be replaced by an incoming board next month, said the service had experienced a 15 per cent increase in its overall patient activity within the past 12 months.
January 1 capped a record year overall for the hospital’s emergency department, with 68,566 people seeking help in 2016, a rise of 6 per cent from 2015.
“We’re busy, we’ve stayed busy, and one of the reasons for that is we’ve opened up our capacity, with our ED (emergency department) continuing to grow at about 7 per cent each year,” Mr Mehan said.
A financial audit found the health service was facing a massive budget blackhole, due to the start of new and expanded services introduced during 2015-16.
Community health leaders have been calling upon the State Government to super- charge the hospital’s budget by an additional $50 million a year, warning that unless there are more funds, there would be service and/or staffing cuts.
Mr Mehan said there had been very “constructive” conversations with the Palaszczuk Government about whether CHHHS was receiving the appropriate level of state funding.
“We’re actually in the process of finalising our service agreement, but people have realised, both in terms of the volumes and the costs, that the situation in Cairns needs to be closely reviewed,” Mr Mehan said.
“We’ve had some very positive, constructive discussions.
“Nothing’s been finalised, except that (the government) has acknowledged there has been a large growth in activity.”
Mr Mehan said, based on this growth, he was hopeful of a boost in hospital funding for the region.
The HHS’s operating budget was increased by the De- partment of Health from $620 million in 2013-14 to $778 million in 2015/16.
Together Union Cairns health organiser Dr Sandy Donald said the results of the health service’s financial audit showed just how inadequately the service had been funded.
“We know that there have been a lot of services reduced or placed under unsustainable pressure,” he said.
“What we would love to see is a proper review of the health needs of the population.”
He believed Far North Queenslanders did not have equitable access to health care, compared to residents in the state’s southeast.
“We know that there are very high health needs in the region,” he said.
“We don’t believe that people have equitable health access, which is not necessarily identical but what is considered fair.
“And we’re deeply concerned that the health service may not be funded for a lot of the services it provides.”
A spokeswoman for Health Minister Cameron Dick said service agreements were arranged between the Department of Health and individual health services.
“Funding arrangements will be announced in the budget,” she said.