As you have rightly suggested, the reform is not really a reform at all. All I can see is a limited reshuffling of funds from State to Federal Governments. It seems the Federal Govt is hoping to dictate Health care funding but at the same time is creating local Boards to determine need. This will certainly end in conflict between what a local Board wants and what the Federal Govt wants. Rudd loves bureaucracies as it makes him the King of a bigger castle and creates multiple ways to redistribute blame when things go wrong.

Health is eating up increasingly large parts of our budget so Rudd's reforms must surely be aimed at decreasing the financial input not increasing it as he suggests. The delusion that there will be a lot more staff and better facilities is just that unless costs go up or massive efficiencies can be found.

Couldn't agree more.

At least 30% of hospital care is for conditions that are (at least theoretically) preventable through lifestyle improvements.

Sadly there is a lot of rhetoric and consultation with the vested interests that "control" a primary sickness system and little consideration to doing things differently. The GP Superclinics are not going to change anything much - they are still sickness orientated though admittedly in a limited multidisciplinary way. Worse still the government (and their officials) don't seem to understand you can't make a preventative primary health care system work by only allowing sickness-oriented funding.

Time for some real change