The Magnetic Island medical centre has issued the following fees schedule notice stating it will become a mixed billing practice as from July 1 - the day before the election in which the fate of Medicare is a major issue .
The notification states that the change is "due to Medicare restrictions and cuts " and other running costs , thus it is unable to bulk bill everyone .
Across Queensland public hospitals are under great pressures , especially emergency departments . The Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service is facing a budget blowout of $6million. At the Cairns Hospital medical staff have been instructed to even cut back on the use of pens , couriers and to critically assess each patient's need for pharmacy, pathology and medical imaging .
The Cairns Hospital was selected as one of two pilot sites for the rollout of Digital Hospital , an integrated electronic medical record which is supposed to reduce patient paperwork. However, Dr Sean McManus of the medical staff association has said it is too unreliable , creating a lot of stress for clinical staff and distracting them from patient care.
A previous Little Darwin post from the John Menadue blog, Pearls and Irritations , detailed how Medicare continues to be hollowed out by Coalition governments and that while Turnbull declares he will not privatise Medicare , it will continue to be undermined by stealth and emasculated so that it is no longer what it was intended... universal health scheme , the envy of the world .
The public health service and the fate of Medicare are major issues in Queensland , as the above flyer in the seat of Herbert indicates , which highlights cuts of $514 million from North Queensland hospitals and $228 million from schools in the Herbert electorate.
