HEALTH SERVICES ACT 1997 - SECT 68
Medicare Principles and Commitments
HEALTH SERVICES ACT 1997 - SECT 68
Medicare Principles and Commitments
68 Medicare Principles and Commitments
(1) The Medicare Principles and
Commitments are adopted as guidelines for the provision of public hospital
services to eligible persons in New South Wales.
(2) The Medicare Principles
and Commitments are as follows--
MEDICARE PRINCIPLES The Commonwealth and the
States are committed to the following principles in the provision of public
hospital services--
Explanatory note : The Principles focus on the provision
of public hospital services to eligible persons, but operate in an environment
where eligible persons have the right to choose private health care in public
and private hospitals supported by private health insurance.
Choices of
services Principle 1: Eligible persons must be given the choice to receive
public hospital services free of charge as public patients
Explanatory note 1
: Hospital services include in-patient, out-patient, emergency services
(including primary care where appropriate) and day patient services consistent
with currently acceptable medical and health service standards.
Explanatory
note 2 : At the time of admission to a hospital, or as soon as practicable
after that, an eligible person will be required to elect or confirm whether he
or she wishes to be treated as a public or private patient.
Universality of
services Principle 2: Access to public hospital services is to be on the basis
of clinical need
Explanatory note 1 : None of the following factors are to be
a determinant of an eligible person's priority for receiving hospital
services--
• whether or not an eligible person has health insurance,
• an eligible person's financial status or place of residence,
•
whether or not an eligible person intends to elect, or elects, to be treated
as a public or private patient.
Explanatory note 2 : This principle applies
equally to waiting times for elective surgery.
Equity in service provision
Principle 3: To the maximum practicable extent, a State will ensure the
provision of public hospital services equitably to all eligible persons,
regardless of their geographical location
Explanatory note 1 : This principle
does not require a local hospital to be equipped to provide eligible persons
with every hospital service they may need.
Explanatory note 2 : In rural and
remote areas, a State should ensure provision of reasonable public access to a
basic range of hospital services which are in accord with clinical practices.
COMMITMENTS In order to achieve Principles 1 to 3, the Commonwealth and States
make the following Commitments regarding public hospital services for eligible
persons--
Information about service provision Commitment 1: The Commonwealth
and a State must make available information on the public hospital services
eligible persons can expect to receive as public patients
Explanatory note 1 :
The State development of a Public Patients' Hospital Charter in consultation
with the Commonwealth will be a vehicle for the public dissemination of this
information.
Explanatory note 2 : The Charter will set out the public
hospital services available to public patients.
Efficiency and quality of
service provision Commitment 2: The Commonwealth and the States are committed
to making improvements in the efficiency, effectiveness and quality of
hospital service delivery
Explanatory note : This includes a commitment to
quality improvement, outcome measurement, management efficiency and effort to
integrate the delivery of hospital and other health and health-related
community services.
(3) Expressions used in the Medicare Principles and
Commitments (and the notes to them) set out in subsection (2) have the same
meanings they have in the Medicare Principles and Commitments (and the notes
to them) set out in section 26 of the Health Insurance Act 1973 of the
Commonwealth.
(4) Nothing in this section gives rise to, or can be taken into
account in, any civil cause of action, and, without limiting the generality of
the foregoing, nothing in this section operates to create in any person legal
rights not in existence before the enactment of this section.
