Union says NSW health system ‘at breaking point’ and calls for royal commission into funding

Report commissioned by Health Services Union is scathing of failure to invest in community and preventative healthcare

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The Health Services Union has called for a royal commission into New South Wales’ funding for health and hospitals, claiming in a new report that the system is “at breaking point” because it incentivises unnecessary or expensive procedures, rather than primary or preventive healthcare.

The report, prepared for the HSU by Impact Economics and Policy, says the “fragmented” nature of the health system intrenched inequality and did not produce the best outcomes for the money spent.

10% of people in NSW waited more than two hours after calling for an ambulance from July to September;

Patient complaints about healthcare services have increased 40% since the start of the pandemic, and 144% since 2011-12;

1,000 hospital beds in NSW are occupied by people staying longer than recommended who could be in aged care or are NDIS participants, costing about $500m a year;

Overservicing is a significant problem. For example, half of all babies born in private hospitals are delivered by caesarean section, three times the rate recommended by the World Health Organization;

Half of almost 4,500 Health Services Union workers surveyed said they were considering leaving the profession within the next five years.

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