Below is the email I have sent to this show. ____________________________________________________________________________ ________ I am a midwife and I am very concerned about the increasing demands on public and private health services in the face of reduced spending in the publich health sector.
I recognise the ideological stance of the liberal party in terms of health care. My concern is that woman who undertake private care have a much greater chance of caesarean section rates and other interventions (see Rocking the Cradle Senate Inquiry and http://www.bmj.com/cgi/reprint/321/7254/137.pdf). In some Australian private hospitals there is over a 50% caesarian section rate (WHO recommend no greater than 15% intervention rates -Marsden Wagner 1994). This unnecessary and totally avoidable escalation in procedures and therefore health dollars has not been addressed by any government to date. Please ask Mr Wooldridge does he see himself, as Health Minister, being accountable to the healthy low risk women who are put at risk from avoidable major abdominal surgery simply because they are not able to access alternative care providers? Midwifery lead care for low risk women (~80% of women) is supported by the World Health Organisation as being the safest and most cost effective way to provide quality maternity services. Childbirth consumer groups are more than happy to tell him that they want MORE CHOICES! Clinical indicators show no difference between obstetric or midwifery lead care in the care of low risk women (slighlty improved with midwives - see New Zealand statistics) yet the cost, both in fiscal and social terms, to women is vastly different under each model. I want to know who does this system of unnecessary costly intervention serve? Need I ask? It certainly isn't the women of Australia. Also please ask Mr Wooldridge when he thinks it would be a good time to take action (perhaps have lunch with the president of the Australian Nurses Federation) to address the exodus of nurses from the Australian Health Care System. Nurses are walking away because they are exhausted and can no longer be the backbone to a service that has diminishing resources yet increasing patient acuity and throughput. Mr Wooldridge needs to know that Nursing workloads are totally unacceptable. Nursing is on a national shortage of skills list - yet Mr Wooldridge continues to 'pass the buck' on this issue to the state governments. He may not yet realise that this is a major Federal electoral issue for many nurses and their families. Would love to see some of these areas addressed in your show. Warm regards, Jackie Doolan Midwife -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe.
