The federal AMA is today calling for genuine reform and substantial investment in the next hospital funding agreement, saying the federal government must play its part and invest $34.7 billion over the next five years. 

AMA President Dr Danielle McMullen said Australia’s public hospitals are in crisis and the time for band-aid solutions and patch-up approaches was over.

“The next National Health Reform Agreement (NHRA) must fix the crisis, or to put it simply, patients will die,” Dr McMullen said.

“We know the answers. Over the last five years, the AMA has released reports detailing the issues plaguing the public hospital system, issues that have led to long waits for essential surgeries; ambulance ramping; declining performance and mental health care shortfalls.

“We launched our call for a new funding agreement in 2021 and have been relentless in our Clear the Hospital Logjam campaign every day since.”

Dr McMullen said the Australian Government had commissioned an independent, expert-led mid-term review of the NHRA, with many real reform recommendations put forward by Rosemary Huxtable AO PSM.

“Yet here we are, five minutes to midnight, having already kicked the can down the road for 12 months, without a new funding agreement. The analysis is there. The answers are there. And we certainly know the ramped ambulances, patients waiting in pain and overworked doctors and nurses are there.

“Now is the time for the ministers to step up and deliver.”

The AMA’s funding call for public hospitals, released today, shows the scale of investment needed. It calls on the federal government to meet its commitment to reach 45 per cent of total funding, but by 2030, as resolving the crisis can’t wait until 2035. It also calls for the cap on funding growth to be lifted. 

Conservative estimates put the cost of the investment at $34.7 billion over 5 years, and potentially up to $49.8 billion if public hospital costs continue to increase at a rate of 5.6 per cent each year.

Based on AMA projections, states and territories will need to find $17.6 billion, and potentially up to $36.7 billion, if hospital costs continue to grow at 5.6 per cent per year over the next 5 years. 

The AMA is also calling for states to invest their freed-up funds resulting from any federal government injection into addressing the logjam.

“The AMA is calling for all ministers to sign up to an agreement that has separate funding mechanisms to expand capacity, improve performance through specific initiatives and address avoidable admissions,” Dr McMullen said.

“It’s clear the current funding agreement doesn’t fund hospitals to work with GPs and manage avoidable admissions effectively. When we know we have an ageing population, increasing chronic disease, and an incredible amount of aged care and NDIS bed-block.

“When we operate and fund the health system in silos, patients get stuck in the cracks. Until a reform agreement includes funding and action to address aged care and NDIS bed-lock and avoidable admissions, the cycles of crisis we first predicted back in 2021 will continue.

“That cannot be allowed to happen. The AMA is calling on all Australians to support the ‘Clear the hospital logjam’ campaign. Write to your MP, share your stories and demand change.”