Private hospital recovery continues but still has some way to go

Wednesday, 24 May 2023

Private hospital recovery continues but still has some way to go
Workforce shortages continue to hamper private hospitals in their efforts to return to pre-COVID-19 elective surgery
levels, says Australian Private Hospitals Association (APHA) CEO Michael Roff.

The March quarter data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority shows that although episodes of care in
the private sector dropped compared to the previous quarter, the post-COVID recovery is showing some signs of
promise.

There were 920,738 episodes in private hospitals in the March 2023 quarter, slightly higher than March 2019 (prepandemic) when there were 873,589.

Mr Roff said while this is an increase in pre-covid activity on face value, it is not on par with anticipated episodes of
care for this quarter.

"If the pre-covid growth trend had continued, we would have expected 927,061 admissions this quarter compared to
the 920,738 that actually occurred. While the increase is promising it is still not enough to meet pent up demand and
workforce remains the key limiter to a full return."
Mr Roff said while the Federal Government had indicated steps to boost migration, it was time to increase the pace
of workforce reform.

"Currently we have various states offering incentives and bonuses for nurses to work in their public hospital systems.

This is simply cannabilising the existing scarce workforce rather than building for the future. We call on the upcoming
meeting of federal and state ministers to work together on a system-wide national approach to boost Australia's
health workforce and abandon short-term populist measures of dubious effectiveness."
Despite workforce issues in the sector, Mr Roff said Australians clearly value the high-quality care they experience in
the private hospital sector, as evidenced by the continuing increase in people taking up private health insurance
hospital cover.

"Private health insurers no doubt welcome the increase in income from the membership boost along with the $52
million in savings they have accumulated since the first tranche of Prostheses List cuts were introduced last July," he
said.

-ENDSMedia contact: Frith Rayner, Director Communications and Marketing, 0413 971 999

Level 3 /11 National Circ, Barton ACT 2600. PO Box 4502, Kingston ACT 2604. [T] 02 6273 9000 [F] 02 6273 7000
[E] [W] www.apha.org.au [FB] ValuingPrivateHospitals [Twitter] @priv8hospitals
ABN 82 008 623 809

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