Health Policy

Queensland’s struggle to meet demand for public health care is blowing out to crisis proportions and resulting in less-than-optimal health outcomes across the state – especially in regional areas. Significant shortcomings in our health system are being exposed by ambulance ramping, inadequate care for senior Queenslanders, chronic staff shortages, extremely long waiting times in emergency rooms, and poor access to health services in regional communities.

No matter where they live, all Queenslanders should have access to a doctor and basic healthcare and medical services. These services should be affordable and readily accessible. Healthcare in Queensland must also be able to meet the varying needs of key demographics: seniors, children, maternity patients, mental health patients, aged care patients, and veterans.

Addressing our public health crisis will require a complex suite of policies at both the federal and state levels. An important federal priority will be the comprehensive reform of Medicare, which is under increasing strain in its current form, is unsustainably funded under current arrangements, and is failing to adequately remunerate general practitioners. The following, however, are Queensland state policies.

OUR POLICIES

Dedicated healthcare for senior Queenslanders

The proportion of older Queenslanders in the population will increase for many years to come. This will require more health resources dedicated to the unique medical needs of seniors in the community.

Just as there are hospitals specialising in the treatment of children, One Nation will advocate the establishment of hospitals specialising in treating senior Queenslanders. This would begin with an existing Queensland Health site in Brisbane, where there is significant space available for a new facility.

This 'senior’s hospital’ would be primarily dedicated to delivering a comprehensive suite of treatments and surgical procedures for seniors, for example, hip and knee replacement surgeries, dementia care, and other age-related conditions. This would have the added benefit of relieving pressure on public hospitals, reducing ramping and emergency room waiting times.

Enhancing ambulance services and reducing ramping

With public hospital emergency waiting rooms overwhelmed by demand, efficiency should be paramount in our hospitals if ambulance ramping is to be reduced. Ambulances in Queensland should also be upgraded to the highest possible standard if they’re going to be used as overflow emergency treatment beds. One Nation will enhance ambulance services by:

  • advocating a review of hospital procedures and emergency room management, to identify efficiencies and thereby reduce incidences of ramping;
  • allocating more resources to ambulance services to improve emergency response times;
  • investing in upgrades and state-of-the-art equipment for ambulance services; and
  • exploring the provision of more dedicated beds for aged care, mental health, and disability patients in order to free up emergency care beds and reduce ramping.

Improving health services in regional, rural and remote Queensland

The further away Queenslanders are from more densely populated areas in the South-East, fewer health services are available, accessible, or affordable. Depending on where they are, regional Queensland communities have their own unique health needs, and it’s critical that there is a sufficient degree of autonomy for regional health authorities and country hospitals to prioritise their resources according to local needs. One Nation will improve health services in regional, rural, and remote Queensland by:

  • handing decision-making and budget allocation back to regional health authorities and country hospital boards, instead of keeping it centralised in Brisbane;
  • investing in more telehealth facilities and technology to improve consultations in remote areas;
  • investing in more preventative health care in regional, rural and remote Queensland to reduce incidences of lifestyle-related chronic conditions (such as diabetes and heart disease) prevalent in regional communities;
  • restoring and revitalising run-down, neglected or closed regional facilities to provide essential health services; and
  • eliminating the new tax on family general practitioners, which is driving more practices out of bulk-billed services.

Attracting and retaining doctors and health professionals

Without a concerted and meaningful effort to incentivise doctors and health professionals to practice in Queensland, the state will always struggle to meet public health demand. COVID-era policies still being retained by Queensland Health must go to bolster the health workforce. One Nation will attract and retain doctors and health professionals in Queensland by:

  • developing incentives – for example financial supports for education, training and establishing practices (for example, payroll tax or land tax discounts) – to entice doctors and other health practitioners to Queensland and reduce reliance on fly-in locums;
  • ensuring accreditation processes for overseas health practitioners seeking to practice in Queensland are the same for Australian practitioners, and include a requirement for fluency in English to better ensure quality care, but are not restrictive to the point that overseas practitioners go elsewhere; and
  • acting to restore qualified staff to Queensland Health by removing petty bureaucratic sanctions against employees for refusing COVID-19 vaccinations.

Improving maternal care

Expecting mothers and families need – and deserve – the opportunity to deliver new babies close to home in their own communities. One Nation will improve maternal health care in Queensland by:

  • guaranteeing access to obstetric care in local communities; and
  • establishing and supporting obstetric facilities and practitioners in under-serviced areas, with a focus on community-based care and preventative health.

One Nation will announce further information and associated policies relating to Queensland over the course of the election period.

More links concerning Queenslander's Health, and our priorities 

1. Wastage at Roma Hospital

2. Rockhampton Hospital Staff Shortage

Showing 4 reactions

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  • Frank Burton
    commented 2024-03-08 16:23:54 +1000
    The good health of a nation rests on education! I would like to see subjects like “your body”, “nutritious food”, “where does our food come from?” “health benefits of exercise” “sleep and rest for the body” taught in school and backed up with a healthy tuck shop menu. Our diseases are self created by the junk food we eat, sold to us by scrupulous multinational advertisers with huge budgets. You never see ads for fruit and vegetables. This would save our nation a fortune in health care later in life. Since Covid 19 many people don’t trust the medical profession anymore and are using alternative traditional health care systems. This should be also encouraged, treating the causes rather than the effects of disease.
  • Leeanne kennedy
    followed this page 2024-02-29 22:39:56 +1000
  • Jennifer Holden Holden
    commented 2024-02-28 16:48:59 +1000
    Does One Nation support the use of Telehealth with patients who have chosen Assisted Dying? These patients should have access to Telehealth due to different stages of their disease etc and not be discriminated against due to their end-of-life decision. Legislation has to be changed to provide for Telehealth doctors to be involved with patients who choose Assisted Dying.
  • Albert Gersh
    published this page in Policies 2024-02-21 16:34:29 +1000