Community Alliance Party

Health crisis demands a new approach

Canberra's growing health crisis would be turned around through a community-driven health approach introduced to the next ACT government through the Community Alliance Party.

Community participation, cooperation, early intervention and prevention are at the heart of the Community Alliance Party's health policy Healthy Capital – a community led health recovery announced today by Community Alliance Candidate for Ginninderra, Roger Nicoll.

"Our community-led approach is necessary because of the failure of successive governments to address Canberra's deepening health crisis that includes serious GP and nurse shortages, long hospital waiting times, insufficient hospital beds, the high levels of obesity, chronic disease mental health, eye, circulatory and respiratory conditions, and the low intake of fruit and vegetables," Mr Nicoll said.

"The Community Alliance solution places GPs and health professionals at the centre but harnesses the collective energy and interest of the community, and health and wellbeing service providers from across government and non-government sectors." Mr Nicoll said.

"We are well aware of current promises on infrastructure spending. We aim to maintain and match health infrastructure to demand, but we also place increasing emphasis on preventing problems before they become serious and expensive to fix."

Some key initiatives to be developed with the community under Healthy Capital are:

• $2 million over four years for seed funding for Better health together – four co-operative health and wellbeing centres (including affordable GPs, nurse, child and maternal care, health promotion and access, family support, counselling, social support and recovery groups), one in Belconnen, one in Tuggeranong, one in Gungahlin and one other. The model attracts qualified GPs not currently working in the sector.
• $8 million a year for a series of preventative health initiatives, including programs to:
  • increase child and family and adult intake and enjoyment of fruit an vegetables including providing a piece of fruit per day for primary school children
  • increase walking to tackle obesity and environmental impact of the drive-to school culture
  • provide accessible health and lifestyle check-ups for men – with checks ‘pit stop’ style out in the community where they are needed most – and separately for women
  • provide revamped family and parenting classes coinciding with pre-natal exercise classes and follow-up meetings three months after birth – facilitating stronger families in the important period surrounding childbirth
  • offer parenting support, life balance and budgeting advice.

"The Community Alliance policy is a plan for wellness and nipping problems in the bud so that more Canberrans can be healthy more of the time," Mr Nicoll said. "It is a plan that increases the availability of GP services in high-needs area of the ACT while improving the work environment and conditions for GPs. It is a plan for reducing future need of the high-cost acute care that is putting an increasing drain on the ACT hospital system and its overall finances."

Contact: Roger Nicoll | www.rogernicoll.com