My plan's better, says John Brumby

A MY School-style website is part of a rival national health reform plan put forward by Victorian Premier John Brumby.

A MY School-style website that compares the performance of health services across the country is part of a rival national health reform plan put forward by Victorian Premier John Brumby.

The 32-page document, released yesterday, seeks to return hospital funding to a 50-50 share between federal and state governments instead of the current 60-40 split proposed by Kevin Rudd.

Under Mr Brumby's plan, GST revenue would remain in state coffers and all hospital funding would be drawn from a state-managed "transparent" pool of state and federal money.

Under the Prime Minister's plan, the states would be forced to surrender one-third of their GST revenue.

Mr Brumby's reform document says: "Under this arrangement, state governments would be fully responsible for the performance of public hospitals.

"This clearly places the onus on states to ensure that each hospital works as effectively and efficiently as possible."

The alternative proposal calls for more investment in preventive medicine and the establishment of a "national health fighting fund" to target the country's biggest killers such as heart disease and cancer.

It also proposes new technology to make the health system more effective and accountable, including a My School-type website, which would compare health services across the country -- from GPs to aged care to waiting lists on hip operations.

"This would further build on the commonwealth's proposals to make publicly available nationally comparative performance data and information on hospitals and health services," it states.

This comes after Canberra announced an Australian Institute of Health and Welfare website to show emergency waiting times and medical mistakes in hospitals.

Mr Brumby said yesterday he believed his plan would be a popular alternative to the Prime Minister's reforms.

Released ahead of the COAG health summit on April 19, the document does not hold back.

It is scathing of Mr Rudd's current plan, stating that any benefits of the federal government's plan are overstated. "The commonwealth's funding proposals are a drop in the ocean," it says. "There would be no relief on the financial pressures facing hospitals over the next decade . . . the benefits

to the states have been overstated due to the use of incorrect data and assumptions that do not reflect current funding arrangements."

AMA Victoria president Harry Hemley said Mr Brumby's plan should be considered at COAG.

"The Premier is right that the Prime Minister's plan won't end the blame game and cost-shifting," he said. "But we need to see more detail about how the Premier's alternative model will solve this problem. (The plan) presents some valid alternatives, and deserves thorough analysis as part of the COAG process."

Opposition health spokesman David Davis accused Mr Brumby of hypocrisy for calling for transparency when his government had fudged waiting list figures and withheld performance data.