Health Policy Launch
07/03/2014
Thanks for coming today everybody. We’re here to launch Dignity for Disability’s health policy – which goes well beyond the populism of simply knocking down the hospital behind me and building another one down the road.
My party’s health policy is designed to concentrate services where they are most effective and help people most in need.
It is built from a dual focus. The first strategy involves changing South Australia’s healthcare from an acute system to a primary health care model. Primary health care is acknowledged as better – both in terms of saving taxpayer money and getting better health outcomes for the patient – but primary health care services have been slashed in SA since the McCann review of 2013.
Dignity for Disability wants a renewed and properly-funded focus on primary health care. This will prioritise prevention, allow equitable access to services – especially in regional areas and would see a rollout of mental health and lifestyle support programs. As a result the dependence on hospitals and acute care will be reduced, and people with chronic illness will be able to spend more time where they want to be – living in the community.
The second plank of Dignity for Disability’s health policy is a focus on Borderline Personality Disorder – more often referred to as BPD.
It is estimated that about one per cent of people have BPD, which means there would be about 16,500 South Australians requiring treatment. This number – and the seriousness of the BPD’s symptoms, justify a specialist care facility, but at the moment people with BPD struggle to get treatment at all. Dignity for Disability are calling for a specialist facility modeled on the successful Spectrum service in Victoria.
With these two major changes, South Australia’s healthcare system will move from being outdated and broken and begin to make both our health budget and our population healthier.
