A National Health and Hospitals Network for Australia's future

• Department of Health and Ageing

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03 March 2010This paper outlines the federal government's plan for a national hospital network, funded nationally and run locally.

The National Health and Hospitals Network will:

• create a single national network of hospitals, instead of eight separate systems,

• be funded nationally, with the Australian government shouldering the majority of the funding burden, which will mean more money is available to meet rising health costs,

• make sure local doctors and nurses with local expertise are making the important decisions for our local hospitals.

The federal government will pay for 60 per cent of all public hospitals, making it the majority funder of the whole public hospital system for the first time. It will take full funding responsibility for all health services provided outside hospitals, like GPs and community health clinics. Hospitals will be run by Local Hospital Networks, paid directly for each service they provide. To pay for the plan, the federal government will retain one third of GST.

Image: Krypto / flickr