Hopefully this year's local candidates will be mindful of that salutary lesson and stick to factual accounts and realisitic promises.
The public hospital system is a constant source of concern and debate on health will likely form part of the election campaigns of all major political parties during the 2010 federal election.At June 2008, Australia had 1,314 hospitals, of which 58 per cent (762) were public.
There were 742 public acute hospitals in Australia, ranging from small remote hospitals with a few beds providing a narrow range of services, to large metropolitan hospitals providing a wide range of specialist services.How many beds were there?
The number of available beds indicates the availability of hospital services. An available bed is defined as a bed which is immediately available for use by a patient and may include same-day beds, neonatal cots, hospital-in-the-home and overnight beds.
In 2007–08, the total number of available beds nationally was 84,235.
In 2007-08, the number of available public hospital beds was 56,467 (67 per cent). This means there were around 2.5 beds per 1,000 people.
The number of available private hospital beds was 27,768 or about 1.3 beds per 1,000 people.
Who funds hospitals?
Australia spent an estimated $94 billion on all health care in 2006–07 (the latest year for which this figure is available). More than a quarter ($27 billion) was spent on public hospital services. Almost 8 per cent ($7.1 billion) was spent on private hospitals.
The Australian Government funded around 40 per cent of public hospital services expenditure ($10.8 billion) through public hospital funding, rebates for private health insurance, hospital services for veterans and direct expenditure such as payments for blood products, specialised drugs and grants for diagnostic equipment.
State, Territory and Local Governments contributed 53 per cent ($14.3 billion) of public hospital services funding. Private sources contributed 7 per cent ($1.9 billion), these included private health insurance benefits and out-of-pocket payments from patients.
In comparison, more than 70 per cent (nearly $5 billion) of private hospital expenditure came via private health insurers. Of this, over 23 per cent (nearly $1.7 billion) was provided by the Australian Government through health insurance premium rebates and 47 per cent ($3.3 billion) came from premiums paid by contributors and other revenue to insurers. These figures do not include funding provided by the Australian Government through the Medicare Benefits and Pharmaceutical Benefits Schedules or for blood and blood products for patients in private hospitals.
What was the cost of an average patient?
The average cost of a patient treated in a public hospital in 2007–08 was $4,232 (excluding depreciation). This cost covers nursing and medical staff, supplies such as surgical dressings and support services such as meals, cleaning and security.
Salaries for medical and nursing staff represent 50 per cent of admitted patient costs.
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The Great Rudd screenshot found at The Orstrahyun
据当地法律法规和政策，部分搜索结果未予显示。
According to local laws, regulations and policies, some search results are not shown.
This is the current legend at the bottom of a Google China search result page due to that country's mandatory national Internet censorship.
This is also the information Australians may see at the bottom of a Google Australia, Yahoo! or Bing search result page sometime after Australia Day 2011 if the Rudd Government insists on censoring the Australian Internet.
There is nothing like a uninformed argument over constitutional monarchy versus republic and it was played out again in the letters column of The Daily Examiner on 23 January 2010 between a Scots-born Aussie letter writer and a Currency Lad deputy editor.
