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Transcript – NHHRC Chair Dr Christine Bennett with Megan Spencer, ABC Radio Darwin

Station: ABC Darwin
Date: 02/07/2008
Program: Drive
Time: 05:16 PM
Compere: Megan Spencer
Summary ID: A00031243855
Item: The National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission is presently on a national listening tour and is in Darwin this week to talk with health workers and members of the public.
Interviewees: Dr Christine Bennett, National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission

MEGAN SPENCER:
Now, imagine if you were in charge of the nation's health entirely. It could be one of the toughest jobs around, designing a blueprint for the long-term restructure of Australia's health system. Now, you might also remember that back in February the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, established a National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission to address what he saw as the inefficiencies in health and hospital services. He said that it needed radical surgery, our health system. Dr Christine Bennett is the chairperson of that commission, and she's in Darwin this week to talk with health workers and members of the public. Basically, she's on a listening tour. Christine, good afternoon.

CHRISTINE BENNETT:
Good afternoon.

MEGAN SPENCER:
That's a big job you have. Goodness me [laughs].

CHRISTINE BENNETT:
It's huge. It's huge but actually we're having a great time getting around Australia and talking to people about the health system, so it's been fantastic.
MEGAN SPENCER: Where do you start redesigning an entire health system?

CHRISTINE BENNETT:
Well, we've started by laying out some principles of the sort of system that we'd like to see in the future. And we're out at the moment consulting on those principles and also what we see as the key health issues. And we thought it really vital from the outset that we actually talk to the community and to the frontline health workers, as well as those who are running the health system. So that's what we're doing on our national listening tour.

MEGAN SPENCER:
Christine, what are some of those key issues that you've heard so far?

CHRISTINE BENNETT:
Well, it's been very - it's been fascinating actually that there's such consistency. There obviously are some individual local issues for different states or different cities or locations. But some of the consistent themes are that people are really wanting more community-based and home-based care, and they're wanting that in a multidisciplinary environment rather than a sort of fractured environment. And they're wanting, you know, better access to primary healthcare and access to their GP and other health professionals out in the community.

And there obviously are some very key issues that were part of our terms of reference, such as the Indigenous health gaps, the issues of rural and remote which are very important for this part of Australia, and also challenges around chronic disease and the issues around how we can prevent disease and keep people healthier.

MEGAN SPENCER:
Christine, what are people revealing to you, particularly in Darwin and the NT? What issues are specific to us here in the Top End?

CHRISTINE BENNETT:
Well, we've had a couple of special forums. We had a special meeting yesterday with the eHealth Northern Territory group, the eHealthNT, which was showing that there's actually some very good leadership work been happening up here in the eHealth space.

We - your community up here obviously is across a huge geography but still a small number in terms of other areas of Australia. Very strong public health focus up here, and a lot of expertise in that area. Some of the best models in multidisciplinary care, and also in the importance and strength of primary care issues being raised here.

But tonight we're meeting with the frontline workers and tomorrow evening we're meeting with community members as well. So we'll have more to share with you after those conversations.

CHRISTINE BENNETT:
Yeah, that will be quite an interesting set of conversations that you will have, I'm very sure. And I'm sure oncology will come up as well that's been an ongoing issue here, especially in Darwin.

Now, closing the gap, Indigenous health, is this a big part of your future plans? And, if so, how do you plan to tackle it?

CHRISTINE BENNETT:
It is actually, and we've got a specific forum on Indigenous health tomorrow as well here in Darwin. And we had one in Melbourne last week as well.
Look, at this stage we recognise, as all Australians are, that there's a huge gap; the sort of 17 year life expectancy gap, and serious issues in access for services for Indigenous people, a lot of which is related to the number of the Indigenous populations who are living in remote areas and in rural areas as well.

But at the moment we're, you know, very interested to hear what's happening here in Darwin, another leading edge set of strategies up here in Darwin around this particular important health priority.

So we can't pre-empt the - I don't have the secret answers yet. Still listening to that and getting ideas from those who know it best.

MEGAN SPENCER:
Well, I'd say you're probably not supposed to have the answers yet. You're probably just supposed to keep your ears open and listen deeply
CHRISTINE BENNETT:
We don't - we definitely don't have all the answers yet. But, you know, listening - it's not only just listening to people; getting them to talk to each other. What we've been doing with these forums as well is that it's not just about people sort of saying, this is my concern or my issue or my experience or even my idea. We're actually workshopping, so we're breaking people into groups and they're actually doing some workshopping together to come up with some solutions which we're then sort of accumulating as we travel around Australia and gluing together sort of these themes.

MEGAN SPENCER:
Well, that is always the best version of a forum, isn't it, to actually give people a platform or a voice, especially those who ordinarily don't have one.

MEGAN SPENCER:
Great Christine. Well, good luck with it all, keep listening, and thank you very much for having a chat this afternoon. That was Dr Christine Bennett, the chairperson of the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission on 105.7 ABC Darwin. If you're interested in going along to that forum, 1800 888374 is the number; you can find out details of that forum from them.

End

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