Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Carol Brown for her question and I note her continuing interest in health and hospital reform. When it comes to delivering health and hospital reform, this government has runs on the board. I will first address and update the Senate on what this government is doing in order to make health care more accessible to our local communities. The government is committed to training 6,000 extra doctors over 10 years and up to 12,000 more undergraduate students in clinical settings, and we are also establishing 4,600 extra nurses in GP superclinics. The purpose of these commitments to healthcare reform is to get the healthcare system working for local communities, ensuring that it is easy to see and contact a doctor when one is needed. The government will continue to deliver on ways to connect Australians to specialists and after-hours GPs. Accessibility to GPs at any hour of the day when they are needed will be increased with the introduction of 495,000 telehealth consultations.

In our hospitals, the government is also working to bring reform to a system that was neglected by inaction over the long Howard years, overseen by the then Minister for Health and Ageing, Mr Tony Abbott. The Gillard government is delivering new projects designed to boost performance of elective surgery and emergency departments. This includes building new operating theatres and increasing the number of emergency room beds. For hospitals to treat patients in clinically recommended times, the government will be providing rewards. Further, the government is funding 1,300 extra subacute beds, including palliative, rehabilitation and mental health beds in our health and hospital system. These reforms will ensure our hospitals can have the resources they need to keep delivering better health care throughout Australia. (Time expired)