BRUCE SIMMONS

Bruce Simmons has recently retired as a dentist manager with the Northern Territory Oral Health Service in Alice Springs. He enjoyed a career focussed on public health dentistry and Indigenous health care combined with a strong interest in public policy and advocacy.
Current Appointed positions:

Member of AHCRA Executive Committee nominated by the National Rural Health Alliance
National Convenor of Oral Health Special Interest Group of PHAA
Member of the National Oral Health Alliance committee
Member of the Oral Health Working Group of the World Federation of Public Health Associations
Member of the Strategic Advisory Committee of the Australian Dental Council
Convenor of Alice Springs Community Garden

Australian Health Care Reform Alliance

3 days ago

A new MedicareA new report released by the Grattan Institute, says Medicare no longer works for patients or for doctors, and suggests the system needs a drastic revamp. It suggests overhauling not only the way general practitioners work but also how they get paid. https://bit.ly/3OXY0XeThe changes Grattan wants to see include more support for team-based chronic disease care and funding matched with community needs. That would mean investing more resources into communities where there are poorer health outcomes. Australia must dismantle the regulatory and funding barriers that force GPs to go it alone and more clinicians, such as nurses and allied health practitioners should be employed in general practices to serve the communities with the biggest gaps in care.The report singles out three professions (pp 32-34):"Many allied health workers provide important contributions to patient care, particularly for patients with chronic disease. This report is not able to cover all of these different roles and contributions. Instead, we highlight just three allied health workforce groups: practice pharmacists, physiotherapists, and community paramedics. For these clinicians there is a very significant gap between the contribution they are able to make and what funding and policy let them do in Australia."The report also suggests Australia needs a new way to fund general practice. Practices should be able to choose a new funding model that supports team care and enables GPs to spend more time on complex cases, by combining appointment fees with a flexible budget for each patient that is based on their level of need.Finally, the report calls for greater clarity and support for general practice from government. Primary Health Networks should monitor a new set of measures that show how well the system is working to help guide and improve the system, including improving people’s access to healthcare in rural areas.Reform is overdue, and earlier this year, Federal Health Minister Mark Butler noted the system is in crisis and announced the establishment of a Strengthening Medicare Taskforce. The government also set aside around $250 million a year to respond.The authors suggest that money can fund the recommendations in the report; repairing the foundation of our health system and creating a new Medicare for the decades ahead. ... See MoreSee Less

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Australian Health Care Reform Alliance

4 days ago

The Perils of PrivatisationThe U.S. is often showcased as having a privatised health "system" that is dysfunctional and expensive https://bit.ly/3VnIkPn and https://bit.ly/3Fq5OxK AHCRA presents this account of hospice care in the U,S, as an example of what Australia must avoid. ... See MoreSee Less

The Hospice Hustle

www.propublica.org

Half of all Americans now die in hospice care. Easy money and a lack of regulation transformed a crusade to provide death with dignity into an industry rife with fraud and exploitation.

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Australian Health Care Reform Alliance

5 days ago

Putting Patients FirstDr Tim Woodruff writes in Pearls and Irritations that our health services should be first and foremost about patients, and a revamped Medicare should be focused primarily on patient need, not on the antiquated view of some providers as to how a 21st century health system should be. ... See MoreSee Less

Can we build on Whitlam's legacy and place patient need at the heart of Medicare? - Pearls and Irritations

johnmenadue.com

Our health services should be first and foremost about patients, and a revamped Medicare should be focused primarily on patient need.

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Australian Health Care Reform Alliance

1 week ago

AHCRA welcomes the move to restrict nicotine e-cigarettes ... See MoreSee Less

SA govt set to pass defibrillator laws

www.canberratimes.com.au

Life-saving defibrillators will be mandatory in all public buildings, including schools, libraries, sporting facilities, theatres and prisons, under...

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Australian Health Care Reform Alliance

1 week ago

Primary Care at riskA new Commonwealth Fund survey has found that a majority of primary care doctors across a range of high-income countries say they are burned out and stressed, and many feel the pandemic has negatively impacted the quality of care they provide.Nearly half of older physicians in most of the countries surveyed intend to leave the workforce soon. ... See MoreSee Less

Stressed Out and Burned Out: The Global Primary Care Crisis

www.commonwealthfund.org

This international survey of primary care physicians looks at changes in workload and quality of care delivered, physical and mental stress, and career plans.

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Australian Health Care Reform Alliance

2 weeks ago

Health Expenditure Australia 2020-21Spending on health goods and services grew by $14.6 billion to $220.9 billion during 2020–21 – the first full year of the COVID pandemic in Australia, according to a new report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The report, Health expenditure Australia 2020–21, shows that total health spending is equivalent to 10.7% of total economic activity, the highest ratio since consistent data became available in 1985–86, and 0.5 percentage points higher than in 2019–20.Primary health care (including public health) spending increased faster than hospital spending during the pandemic. The growth of Australian Government spending between 2019–20 and 2020–21 was due mainly to increases in direct Australian Government spending (8.5%) and grants to states and territories (5.4%), while the health spending associated with the health insurance premium rebate increased by 1% and DVA spending decreased by 6.1%. Among the direct Australian Government spending, the biggest increases were in public health (including spending on masks and personal protective equipment and COVID–19 vaccines) and referred medical services (including COVID–19 testing, diagnostic imaging, specialist services, among others).AIHW Media release https://aihw.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/… ... See MoreSee Less

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The Australian Health Care Reform Alliance (AHCRA) is a coalition of peak health groups working towards a better health system for Australia’s future.