Partnership the key to recovery

The much publicised and tragic incompetence of an Indian surgeon working in Bundaberg is an extreme example of a problem that is worsening.

Removing Australia's unique impediments to reform will require a collaborative and collegial partnership between all governments, clinicians and the community. Surely in a mature democracy that is not too much to expect?

To that end the Australian Healthcare Reform Alliance, by far the largest coalition of health professionals and consumer organisations working for the restructuring of our health system, has written to all attending COAG urging them to commit to a six-month program that could break the decades-old impasse.

The plan calls for the establishment of four task forces composed of the best brains available to produce blueprints for providing us with the primary care system we need, solving our workforce problem, accelerating the introduction of electronic health records (essential for quality and safety) and finding ways around the jurisdictional divide.

The solution to so many specific problems (such as Indigenous and mental health) can only flow from these primary reforms.

To achieve this, all governments must allow their senior policy experts to work with clinicians, relevant academics and consumers to produce practical and politically acceptable plans. No other process has any chance of success.