ANF: Nurses call on Independents and Liberals to support landmark health reforms
Published: 25 October 2010
The Australian Nursing Federation is pleased major reforms to the health system have finally begun with legislation that sees the Commonwealth Government take majority funding responsibility for public hospitals.
However ANF assistant federal secretary Yvonne Chaperon called on the federal government not to delay with release of the details, saying the long awaited legislation needs to be explained to health workers and their patients.
“Nurses have been calling for major reforms in the health sector for a long time and therefore welcome the introduction of legislation this week,” Ms Chaperon said.
She said it was important the issue received endorsement from key political decision makers. “We call on the Independent Members of Parliament and the Liberal MPs to support the legislation in the House of Representatives.”
“It is vital that debate begin and the details of these reforms are released in order to ensure a positive result. Nurses are the largest health workforce and must therefore play a key role in the consultation process.”
“While we are still waiting on more detail, we support legislation that ensures Commonwealth funding for each service at a hospital.”
“The ANF also supports improvements in primary care and prevention. This includes tackling major issues in the aged care sectors which will ultimately take pressure off the hospital system into the future.”
“Australians largely supported these reforms proposed by Labor in the 2010 election and any measures to relieve the workplace stress and burden nurses experience in rural and remote areas and in major metro cities will ultimately benefit all Australians.”
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