"The revelation that most of the Rudd Government's GP super clinics will not be operating for at least another two years has brought opponents of this expensive program out into the open."

It is good that you got around to pointing out that the reason emergency departments are overcrowded is because of the shortage of public hospital beds.

Finally someone with more than one neuron in their head.

In the 90's we had 'improved effeciency", "cost effectiveness" etc.

John Howard introduced the life time private health insurance scheme, claiming this would help take the pressure off public hospitals and in the mean time, bed numbers are continually being reduced, the population is increasing.

A perfect storm.

I wouldn't put it past the state governments to have a deliberate policy of under funding the public hospitals in their states, hoping people will get fed up and go to private hospitals.

Interestingly the AIHW now nolonger collects data on the numbers of available public hospital beds.

Me suspicous? Nah? But then one does wonder why? just when public hospital beds are now at their lowest point in history, does the AIHW stop collecting data.

However Jeremys article on opting out of tax and recieving better health care, does not explain that the private system is by far much more expensive and costly, so that what is saved in not paying extra tax, is basically a down payment on much more expensive corparate medicine, where the health of the shareholder dividend is much more important than the quality or standard of health care that the non tax payer will recieve.

Sally Coliban had an interesting show on 3AW last Sunday night.

I used to have a Secondhand/Antiquarian Bookshop. It had Goodwill as well as Stock value... similar to any other Business.

Bookselling of the Secondhand variety has almost vanished as a Retail Shop Front due to many reasons , a major one being the huge competition to low/no tax Charities working in the area.... as in Government subsidised Charaties in some for or another.

When Trading finally became too uneconomic, I closed the Shop , with a loss on Stock... and no Goodwill.

Therefor it is with much suprise that I read the following ;

"The concern is that young doctors will not buy into an established practice, into which retiring doctors have invested large amounts of capital and years of service, when the alternative is to join a government-controlled super clinic for free with the capital costs paid for by taxpayers"

Pray tell, what makes a Doctor and their Practice so special ?

Silly me !!... They are a self regulated ,insulated group who are far superior to we, the Unwashed.

a. Teams in superclinics provide a far more appropriate care system than doctors practising alone or in doctor partnerships. It is ignorant to suggest that team care is an "anachronism"
b. Considering that many suburban practices have closed their books to new patients I do not think that there is a problem for the poor doctors!
c. With regard to "forcing doctors to work" anywhere was declared unconstitutional by the High Court (it is a form of conscription), once more I think that this is an imaginary problem.
d. Superclinics can handle minor trauma not requiring hospital admission.
e. "Goodwill" actually is an anachronism!