Funding Plea as Health System Faces ‘National Crisis’

Australians are arriving at hospitals sicker as the health system buckles under years of decline, prompting states and territories to demand more money from the federal government. “Everywhere in Australia, the health system is under pressure,” a letter from eight health ministers to the Commonwealth reads, describing the situation as a “national crisis”. As winter rolls across the nation, diseases and viruses such as COVID-19, the flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are weighing on strained health systems. General practice had been steadily declining for the past decade, their letter said, with fewer new doctors training to become GPs. “This means Australians are finding it harder to get primary care when they need it,” the ministers wrote....