The crisis in health care is not getting better, which is not a surprise. When something as complicated as a health care system becomes critically injured, it takes more than finger-pointing and fighting to fix it.
It also takes more than words. Though maybe this is not the impression a person gets when you look at the number of managers and communications personnel working for the health authorities.
Perhaps they are a response to the online rants which seem to think someone can magically make it better, but unfortunately this isn’t the case.
Some immediate relief for our very stressed system might be to examine why physicians and nurses are spending so much time in meetings and on paperwork. Perhaps there could be an examination of management, and why there are so many people managing staff instead of treating patients.
Maybe there are opportunities for policymakers to ensure the system spends less time worrying about liability and instead focuses on improving patient care and allows physicians and nurses with knowledge and experience to carry out the important work of patient care.
Looking at some of the bottlenecks might help relieve some of the pressure.
Why do doctors have to do a four-year degree program they will never use in order to apply for medical school? In Australia this is not the case, but our medical school application system is slow to change and controlled by physicians who had to go through the existing system. Increasing the number of spots in medical schools is also not an easy process. Bringing physicians from other countries just outsources the problem.
It would be interesting to know if our policymakers are looking at creative or alternative approaches to help support our medical system, rather than manage it to death.
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