The NT’s ‘health crisis’ is ‘above politics’: It’s time for the Feds to cough up

IT’S no secret it costs a lot ‘more to deliver health services in the Northern Territory than it does elsewhere in Australia

It’s no secret it costs a lot more to deliver health services in the Northern Territory than it does elsewhere in Australia

IT’S no secret it costs a lot more to deliver health services in the Northern Territory than it does elsewhere in Australia.

While on the surface it might seem like we are spending big on medical services, in reality, we are falling behind.

The Australian Medical Association says our health system is “extremely stressed”.

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“We’ve got the busiest hospital system in Australia and unless we get significant increases in funding, it’s going to lead to large waiting times,” AMA NT president Rob Parker said recently.

The situation is so dire, the AMA recently wrote to the Commonwealth Government to plead with them to put more cash into our ailing system.

Dr Parker said the NT’s “health crisis” was “above politics” but the Gunner Government was not in a position to invest any more money.

“The NT Government is broke,” he said. “This money needs to come from the Federal Government.”

With the poor state of the Northern Territory’s books, that seems the only way to keep our health system afloat.

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That bears out in the numbers — in 2017-18, annual spending on health in the NT grew by just 0.4 per cent.

That slow down is a worrying sign of what could come if the Northern Territory doesn’t get the cash top up we need.

We’ve already seen the consequences of an underfunded health system — patients being turned away for elective surgeries.

This is too important to stuff up.