Post by matt on Feb 5, 2013 0:25:43 GMT 10
Where is Julia Gillard on this?
Hospital advises parents they'll have to pay for their child's 'clinical consumables'
Daniel Bateman
The Courier-Mail
February 04, 2013
THE parents of a boy with cancer have been told by Queensland's largest children's hospital they need to start sourcing and paying for their outpatient son's bandages.
Townsville boy Matthew Lee, 8, has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer that has left him needing chemotherapy at the Royal Children's Hospital in Brisbane every three weeks.
As part of the procedure, Matthew requires regular replacement bandages on his chest, where drugs are administered through a tube surgically placed into his body.
His parents, Tony and Sharron, were disgusted when they received a letter from the hospital two weeks ago asking them to start paying for Matthew's dressings from March 1.
In the letter, Children's Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service general manager Sue McKee said families of all patients cared for and treated at home would have to get their own "clinical consumables" from pharmacies, specialist medical goods distributors and supermarkets, a move that would bring the hospital in line with other paediatric medical centres across Australia.
Mr Lee said it was another cost he and his wife would have to meet to keep their son alive.
"He's eight years old and...he's already got a vast amount of medicine he's got to take," he said.
"This is just another thing and we don't think we should have to pay for it."
The hospital has also advised families they would have to pay for other clinical items, including gloves, syringes, needles, lines and tubes.
"We're very disappointed and shocked...especially with the way everything's going in society nowadays," Mr Lee said.
"My sister works in the medical industry and you know about people who get on the methadone program - the drug addicts - and they get all that stuff on site.
"People who get into a fight or get hit by a car and go to the emergency department, are they supposed to stop by the chemist on the way and get their bandages to take with them?"
A Children's Health Queensland spokesman said the move would allow the hospital to recoup the cost of consumables.
However, he was unable to say how much money the cutbacks would save.
"The Royal Children's Hospital is the last hospital in Australia to provide clinical consumables for free, so we're simply going over to a policy that reflects the standard practice of absolutely everywhere else in the country," he said.
He said financial assistance was available for eligible families.
Australian Medical Association North Queensland representative Dr Carl O'Kane said public health care should remain as free as possible.
"I believe Australia has one of the most amazing health care systems in the world, and it's sad that we're now heading towards a model of American economic viability in our health care system," he said.
"If we're not careful, it will soon become a healthcare system for the rich, and not the poor."
The Townsville Hospital and Health Service has indicated similar plans to cut down on bandages and dressings to recover costs, but the hospital's board chairman John Bearne said yesterday that, as far as he knew, the consumables were still available without charge.
www.news.com.au/national/hospital-advises-parents-theyll-have-to-pay-for-their-childs-clinical-consumables/story-fndo4ckr-1226567734374
Hospital advises parents they'll have to pay for their child's 'clinical consumables'
Daniel Bateman
The Courier-Mail
February 04, 2013
THE parents of a boy with cancer have been told by Queensland's largest children's hospital they need to start sourcing and paying for their outpatient son's bandages.
Townsville boy Matthew Lee, 8, has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer that has left him needing chemotherapy at the Royal Children's Hospital in Brisbane every three weeks.
As part of the procedure, Matthew requires regular replacement bandages on his chest, where drugs are administered through a tube surgically placed into his body.
His parents, Tony and Sharron, were disgusted when they received a letter from the hospital two weeks ago asking them to start paying for Matthew's dressings from March 1.
In the letter, Children's Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service general manager Sue McKee said families of all patients cared for and treated at home would have to get their own "clinical consumables" from pharmacies, specialist medical goods distributors and supermarkets, a move that would bring the hospital in line with other paediatric medical centres across Australia.
Mr Lee said it was another cost he and his wife would have to meet to keep their son alive.
"He's eight years old and...he's already got a vast amount of medicine he's got to take," he said.
"This is just another thing and we don't think we should have to pay for it."
The hospital has also advised families they would have to pay for other clinical items, including gloves, syringes, needles, lines and tubes.
"We're very disappointed and shocked...especially with the way everything's going in society nowadays," Mr Lee said.
"My sister works in the medical industry and you know about people who get on the methadone program - the drug addicts - and they get all that stuff on site.
"People who get into a fight or get hit by a car and go to the emergency department, are they supposed to stop by the chemist on the way and get their bandages to take with them?"
A Children's Health Queensland spokesman said the move would allow the hospital to recoup the cost of consumables.
However, he was unable to say how much money the cutbacks would save.
"The Royal Children's Hospital is the last hospital in Australia to provide clinical consumables for free, so we're simply going over to a policy that reflects the standard practice of absolutely everywhere else in the country," he said.
He said financial assistance was available for eligible families.
Australian Medical Association North Queensland representative Dr Carl O'Kane said public health care should remain as free as possible.
"I believe Australia has one of the most amazing health care systems in the world, and it's sad that we're now heading towards a model of American economic viability in our health care system," he said.
"If we're not careful, it will soon become a healthcare system for the rich, and not the poor."
The Townsville Hospital and Health Service has indicated similar plans to cut down on bandages and dressings to recover costs, but the hospital's board chairman John Bearne said yesterday that, as far as he knew, the consumables were still available without charge.
www.news.com.au/national/hospital-advises-parents-theyll-have-to-pay-for-their-childs-clinical-consumables/story-fndo4ckr-1226567734374
