2 The Ramsay Way 2018 02 RAMSAY AUSTRALIA
CEO MESSAGE
The recent focus on private
health care in Australia is
unprecedented. While there is a
lot of debate and conjecture, it
is important to remember that,
above all, Australia has by most
measures one of the best health
systems in the world. This is a
fact that unfortunately gets lost
in the various media reports and
debates about healthcare in this
country. Our life expectancy and cancer survival rates are
among the best in the world and our healthcare costs, as
a percentage of GDP, are much lower than that of many
developed nations.
A demonstration of the excellence of the Australian health
system can be found in a recent major international study
published in The Lancet of 37 million cancer patients
across 71 countries. This study rated Australia as a world
leader in five-year cancer survival rates. Scandinavian
countries such as Denmark also rated highly as did the
USA. The United Kingdom rated 17th. Australia’s excellent
five-year cancer survival rate can be largely attributed to
the fact that Australians have access to early diagnosis
and treatment of this terrible disease.
Australia and more specifically, Ramsay Australia, has
hospitals and doctors of the highest quality. Working
together, our doctors, nurses, allied health professionals
and hospital support staff consistently deliver excellent
outcomes for our patients. As you will see in this issue
of The Ramsay Way, we invest heavily in technology,
as well as training and development of our staff and
doctors, to ensure we have the best medical equipment,
the safest systems and the best staff and doctors to treat
our patients. Such an investment comes at a cost, but it
is a necessary cost to ensure we remain sustainable and
relevant over the long term.
We will continue to seek ways to address the issue of
affordability in healthcare, but we need to do this in a
measured and collaborative way with Government and
health funds. The predominant reason health costs
are escalating is not due to prices going up; it is due to
utilisation of health care services. The rising utilisation
of health care services is due to, among other things,
the aging population and the increasing proportion of
Australians with chronic disease (such as diabetes, heart
conditions and mental illness).
The issue of affordability needs to be managed, but
not by restricting or curtailing services to patients in
need of health care services. The public and private
health care systems must protect the sickest and most
vulnerable patients. Australians will not accept solutions
which adversely impact them by reducing quality and
choice. Health fund policies need to be reliable, be
transparent and preserve patients’ ability to choose their
doctor, treatment and hospital. A USA-style managed
care system, where health funds or governments decide
when, where and how patients get treated, will never be
acceptable in Australia.
We have an enviable balanced private and public
health system in this country which ensures the private
system provides choice and quick access for those
who can afford it and the public system provides care
(either immediate care in the event of an emergency or
eventual care in the event of elective surgery) for those
who cannot. Unfortunately, the chase for revenue from
private patients by state public hospital systems has
negatively impacted this delicate balance in recent times
and, according to research by the Australian Institute for
Health and Welfare, this is adversely impacting access
to public hospital services for true public patients. This
situation is unsustainable and the Federal Health Minister
is right to call out the States on this issue.
In summary, the Australian health system should be
hailed for delivering excellent outcomes at a very
reasonable cost. It is a health system that is worth
fighting for and worth paying for. The Australian health
system is the envy of many countries around the world.
We must maintain and strengthen the world leadership
position we have attained, without compromise.
Danny Sims
CEO, Ramsay Australia
| 02
Brand new St Leonards site features
Patients at the new St Leonards Clinic will experience a new level
of private mental healthcare with spacious single rooms, modern
indoor and outdoor dining, large outdoor therapy spaces and private
parkland areas.
Wellness spaces are abundant in the facility including massage rooms,
an art therapy room and a large gymnasium staffed with inhouse
personal trainers.
CEO Anne Mortimer said the modern facility provides for innovative
and holistic treatment catering for the specific needs of people
suffering from mental health disorders but the spaces will also be
open to those in the community who are committed to their mental
health and wellness.
100,000 patients treated at SCUPH
Sunshine Coast University Private Hospital
(SCUPH) recently celebrated treating its 100,000th
patient since opening its doors in late 2013.
CEO Oliver Steele said the Hospital had delivered above
and beyond expectations, broadening the range of private
services available to Sunshine Coast residents since opening.
“In the past 18 months, the Hospital has launched the Coast’s
first and only cardiac surgery service, introduced robotic
surgery for prostate cancer, renal dialysis treatment unit
(transferred from Caloundra) and has also opened a second
cardiac catheter laboratory and new coronary care unit beds.
“Pleasingly, we have commenced involvement in clinical trials
for cancer which provide patients with access to the latest
treatments without the need to travel to Brisbane or interstate.
“Patient feedback is overwhelmingly positive.”
He thanked VMOs and staff for their dedication and
commitment to the hospital since opening and for assisting
the Hospital in earning a reputation for quality care
and excellence.
SCUPH has opened discussions to be part of the new
Sunshine Coast University Medical School, which is planned
to open adjacent to the hospital in 2019.