18 November 2005

NSW TABLES COMMUNITY OWNED MEDICARE PROVIDER NUMBERS

NSW Minister for Health John Hatzistergos is calling on the Commonwealth to examine community owned provider numbers for doctors at today's Health Minister's Conference in Adelaide.

"The Commonwealth gives everyone a Medicare card but it is meaningless if people can't access a service," Mr Hatzistergos said.

"Provider numbers are a privilege not a right and we need to give the community ownership and control of them," he said.

"It is ridiculous that while the community pays for a healthcare service through the Medical Benefits Scheme (MBS) regardless of where they live, many people are simply not able to use their Medicare card.

"In rural and regional areas of NSW there are fully funded medical practitioner positions that remain unfilled while most capital cities around the country have an oversupply of doctors.

"Giving the community control over allocation of provider numbers to buy the health services they need should result in better distribution of our scarce workforce and better application of their health financial investment.

"It is time to let the community determine the best method for delivering their healthcare locally by giving them ownership of the system which practitioners would access.

"I call on Health Ministers to support further examination of the MBS as a distribution mechanism, so that the community who pays for the system owns the system.

"The use of MBS funding to encourage and attract doctors to rural, regional and outer metropolitan areas is fundamental to fixing the serious problem of maldistribution of the medical workforce.

"This is a Commonwealth responsibility and we need their cooperation," Mr Hatzistergos said.

The NSW Minister for Health will also be raising the issues of advertising of unhealthy food in children's programming times and licensing of MRI and PET scanners at today's Conference.

For a range of health information, go online to www.health.nsw.gov.au