John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Dickson, the shadow minister for health, for moving this important private member's motion. I note that the member submitted this motion in November last year and that his concerns have also been investigated by the Senate Community Affairs References Committee, which released its report earlier this month. I support the member for Dickson's call for the government to negotiate with stakeholders and to ensure that, as a result, pharmacists can continue to dispense chemotherapy drugs without disrupting patients.

Earlier today I was honoured to host another Parliamentary Friends of Medicines event and to welcome senior members of the Pharmacy Guild as they launched a paper about reducing financial burden on society. We are all aware that our health budget comprises a large part of our nation's expenditure and all would agree that these costs need to be managed in the most efficient and prudent way. However, the key difference with this budget item is that we are talking about the health of our constituents, and thereby the health of our nation.

This government's failure to administer a reliable funding framework for the delivery of chemotherapy services to Australia's cancer sufferers is a perfect example of how not to manage health related budgetary matters. To add weight to this saga, the government's failure to resolve this issue in a timely fashion is, and I quote from the Senate report, 'a demonstration of its policy ineptitude and laziness. According to evidence of many witnesses, this lack of a timely resolution may put at risk affordable and quality care and access to treatment for cancer patients'.

The array of critics of this government's management of this issue was seemingly endless. The Clinical Oncology Society of Australia said: 'If there is no longer an income stream to maintain the clinical pharmacy services associated with the supply of chemotherapy, this is likely to affect the cost of care and patient access.' The Pharmacy Guild of Australia said: 'Ongoing care for all Australian cancer patients, regardless of their type of cancer, is being put at risk by the current arrangements.' Sydney Adventist Hospital, the largest provider of private day oncology services on the North Shore and the north-west of Sydney said the funding approach could lead to a 'cessation of all chemotherapy infusions, provision of a limited range of treatments and pharmacy staff reductions'.

The Medical Oncology Group of Australia and Private Cancer Physicians of Australia said 'The current remuneration model for chemotherapy does not reflect how contemporary cancer services are delivered.' The key result of the Senate committee report is that the current chemotherapy funding model is neither transparent nor sustainable. And so finally, just a few weeks ago, the government admitted to its own mess and announced it will provide an additional $60 for each chemotherapy infusion—but only for six months.

How this short-term announcement provides any stability to the industry or certainty to cancer patients and their families is beyond me. All it does is get them past the September election. How convenient. It is clear that this government is still unable to detail for providers of chemotherapy services and their patients any definitive long-term funding solution. This is not a debate about price disclosure. The patented medicine in question was developed by Bennelong based company Sanofi.

Companies like Sanofi are very willing to participate in a conversation on the important role that they can play as part of this process and the important savings that are derived after their patent period has expired. This is an issue about cancer sufferers and chemotherapy providers, both of whom are wholly dependent on a viable long-term funding solution for the sustainable provision of cancer treatment services.

The government's delay on this matter has forced many private chemotherapy providers to absorb huge costs. The Sydney Adventist Hospital Pharmacy that services my electorate has estimated a $1.6 million financial shortfall as a result of the government's changes to the PBS since April 2010. It is clear that the government must, at the earliest opportunity, commence a genuine negotiation with stakeholders to effect a sustainable solution to this crisis in our health-care system.

As the Member for Dickson said earlier, vulnerable cancer patients do not need the stress of the uncertainty created by this government to add even more pressure on top of the challenges they are already facing. I congratulate the member on this motion and commend it in the strongest possible terms to the House. (Time expired)

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