Civic Health and Social Wellbeing in its wider sense is being economically ignored through this election.

People's needs and basic life-quality is being turned into a pre-christmas spending spree. I am shocked.

Economic Health includes a NATIONAL - REGIONAL and LOCAL GOVERNEMENT PLAN. I see an erractic and impartial grab for INDIVIDUAL MANIPULATION case by case.

While I am pleased to see the Careers and Disablities movement get some attention, I see their outside resource teams (formal + informal) being put under more adverse pressure because these payments a) are not enough to carry their "whole" needs and or b) go no where near the essential areas needed to resolve some of the critical problems at the core for life-quality promoting long-term civic and community health.

Australia is RUNNING ON CRISIS in rural areas. Outside the critical services there is no back-up in reality. As the services (Ad Hoc) go home and switch out the lights... WHO IS THERE?

WHO REALLY CARES?

Golly Gosh AUSTRALIA it is about TIME WE SHARE THE BURDEN.

Community Based care especially in rural and isolated areas needs a REVAMP.

A VISION and a brand new FOCUS on LIFE-QUALITY. Our dependance on doctors, medications and crisis, needs to be brought back in a civic-based-reality.

Alma Ata "HEALTH EDUACTION FOR ALL".

We need to intergrate services - share provisions with A NO WRONG DOOR POLICY.

This is Economic Business to DO WITH HEALTH.

http://www.miacat.com
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"1. A robust, secure health IT infrastructure sharing successes so they can become repeatable and sustainable, and; sharing failures so they can be avoided."

IT is extremely expensive, especially when the programs purchased do not perform to expectation, so millions of dollars are spent in supporting expensive programs which do not perform.

IT is is time consuming so without extra funding and staffing, the cost of IT impinges on hospital budgets.

Walk around any large public hospital in Australia and floors that once contained hospital beds are now taken up with office space.

"so millions of dollars are spent in supporting expensive programs which do not perform."

This is not the case, the hospitals are being ruthlessly starved of funds we pay for very dearly in taxes. In addition, to exhorbitant taxes, exceeding bounds of reason, there is the GST. Moreover, there is a war being carried out on the wole social infrastructure by the politicians to bring it down and privatise it - in this case, private health care. Expectations from the profiteers speculate they can squeeze out $60,000 for cancer treatments and $80,000 for various heart attack surgery. In any and every sense of the word, this is a vast criminal enterprise in extent and scope that even exceeds the privateers wildest dreams for profit accumulation. To rub salt into the wound, the government actually subsidises substantially these private pirates 'to ensure their well being.' At the same time, every aspect of service will be minimalised to cut costs and contribute to profits. Big money works to undermine and degenerate proper medical care.

Readers of this thread may be interested in this post.

http://clubtroppo.com.au/2007/02/06/gruen-tenders-endorsed-by-house-of-representatives-standing-committee-shock-2/

Miacat ... good observations.

James ... by comparison my online database was very inexpensive but still a very worthwhile investment because it continues to validate a successful treatment for Multiple Sclerosis - a treatment that is not mainstream - a treatment that incidentally costs patients less than $500 per annum (in comparison to present medications costing tens of thousands of dollars per annum). Is Health IT time consuming? Yes, but only in small degrees - because doctors and nurses already spend time detailing patient records - and a doctor or a group of doctors will often detail successful case histories for medical conferences - so the major parts are already being done.

johncee ... yes I've noticed this too, and I'm extremely worried because Australia covets the same fully commercialised health system that is presently imploding in another western society - abandoning the sick and suffering in its wake.

Nicholas ... I like the way you think. I hope someone enlists your help when Australia's ready to improve its health IT system.