AMA WA call summit to fix private health funding issues after closure of maternity and mental health services

The head of WA’s peak body for doctors has warned health insurers need to meet the rising costs of private patient care or the State’s health system could be put in jeopardy. Australian Medical Association WA president Michael Page called a summit on private health and hospitals in response to recent closures of several St John of God and Ramsay Health Care maternity hospital units and the Bethesda mental health unit. Private health insurers, private hospitals and clinical groups joined the meeting on Monday in an attempt to resolve the funding issues that had played a part in the closure of maternity and mental health services across WA. Dr Page said private insurance was an important part of the healthcare landscape in WA, with West Australians having the highest uptake of private hospital insurance than any other State. “We have 60 per cent of elective procedures being performed in our private system,” he said. “We have the highest per capita number of private hospital beds in Western Australia compared with every other State, so private insurance is an incredibly important part of the healthcare landscape in WA and we need to see it sustainable into the future. “If we don’t resolve the funding issues of private hospitals soon we are going to see our public hospital system in WA come under even more pressure and no one wants to see that.” Dr Page called for the State and Federal Governments to work alongside private insurers and private hospital operators to reach a solution. “Private hospitals are being pushed into a position of having to choose which services they can provide because the funding provided to them is inadequate,” he said. “Private hospitals have suffered the same inflation as every other business in Australia. . . and yet their funding hasn’t been able to increase.” Premier Roger Cook said it was clear the private system was struggling, putting more pressure on public hospitals. “We need our private hospital system to be in good working order, so that people have a choice and that we take the pressure off our public services,” he said. “We’ve got the health insurance companies making large profits at the moment, and you’ve got private hospitals that are essentially closing down. “Someone has to intervene. Some action has to be taken to make sure that we relieve this impasse and we get our private hospital system in better working order.” Liberal leader Libby Mettam said the Government had failed to use the proceeds from the economic boom to properly address the “broken health system”. The summit comes less than a week after the nation’s second-largest private hospital operator, Healthscope, launched a nationwide advertising campaign accusing Bupa and non-profit insurer Australian Unity of under-funding its 38 hospitals across the country. Private Healthcare Australia chief executive Rachel David said insurers had paid hospitals eight per cent more for treatments in the last year. “We need private hospitals to survive. Our members want rapid access to high quality private hospital care, so we’re helping the sector through a difficult time,” she said. “There are several major trends challenging the private hospital sector including workforce shortages, increasing out-of-pocket costs charged by medical specialists, and more consumers and doctors opting for convenient options including shorter hospital stays and hospital in the home. “This is disrupting private hospitals’ traditional business model. These factors are outside of the control of health funds. Tipping unsustainable funding into an old model of care is not the answer.” The West Australian understands the contracts being offered to mental health clinic Bethesda by private health insurers for mental health in-patients did not cover the costs of providing their treatment. The 75-bed mental health clinic closed its doors less than a year after it opened. Expectant mothers wanting to go private were dealt a further blow in August when St John of God Subiaco curtailed its maternity services and was not accepting new bookings for deliveries in September, October, and November. The three-month freeze on new patients at Subiaco came after SJOG Health Care transferred its Mt Lawley obstetric services to the hospital from December 20, 2023. SJOG’s Bunbury maternity ward also closed in June this year, claiming the decision was due to ongoing challenges in delivering private obstetric care in the South West, including a chronic shortage of employed midwives and a lack of obstetricians. Staff shortages were also blamed for the closure of maternity services at Ramsay Health’s Glengarry Private Hospital in Duncraig.