Am surprised there hase been such a quiet response to such a serious thread.
Yep, gorgeous example of neoliberalism in full toxic bloom.
Applies everywhere from Media (ABC, SBS) to police and courts, to education. And my gut hunch is that a chunk of Labor actually subscribes to the underlying self-obsessed "aspirational" theology, which bodes badlyas to the near- seamless take over by the new men; the likes of Iemma, Swan and Brumby etc, from the foundatonal Howards and Costellos.
Seem to recall being told I was born at Royal North Shore or Mater Misericordia, unless they are both the same. Sorry, starting to ramble...

Paul,
especially when it is not just NSW---crisis management is also happening in Victoria's hospitals with the work bans in place by the nurses. The bitter industrial stand-off has entered its seventh day — with at least 800 beds closed and 450 operations cancelled across the system —and the Brumby Government striking a pose of 'tough on unions.'

What this disputes highlights is that it is unlikely the medical and nursing workforce would be enhanced significantly in the next five years; 35 per cent of emergency department patients had still not been admitted to a hospital bed within eight hours of active treatment starting; there is "a lack of critical mass" in a range of services offered at many acute facilities such as intensive care, emergency services and maternity.

So pouring more money into the hospital system is like filling a bucket full of holes: it's an endless and pointless process. Reform is what is needed.

Paul,
I see that Malcolm Colless in The Australian argues that what is:

urgently needed [is]to attack the bureaucratic monster created by the state Labor governments which is sucking the life out of our public hospital system.It is a sad fact that only about one in six people employed in the public health system is engaged in face-to-face patient care. The bulk of the remainder are involved in what are essentially administrative areas.Hospital funding needs to be directed away from the back office staff and towards the areas where it is needed most - direct patient care.

He adds that Howard's move to restore the traditional system of individual hospital boards is a sound start to dealing with waste and mismanagement which has flowed from the over-bureaucratised structure of hospital administration established under the Labor state governments.

Nan,
The structure of hospital administration does need improving. Paul Stanton in The Age observes that:

Despite increased funding going into public health care, it is still a system under pressure. Hospital managers are largely governed by financial imperatives, creating a culture of cost-saving by managers that leads to actions such as slow replacement of staff. Such actions become irritants in the system, further undermining trust and leading staff to turn to their unions for support.

He says that if the Brumby Government forces a detrimental settlement through the courts, it will end up with a workforce that is demoralised and likely to vote with its feet in an already tight labour market.

What is needed is a different and better approach to managing health sector workers. Stanton says:

The British Government has chosen to improve the health sector through better management of staff. Hospital trusts have annual health checks that include human resource indicators such as recognising staff contribution through personal development plans and staff involvement in decision-making. Hospitals are encouraged to measure HR indicators such as sickness and absenteeism rates and staff satisfaction and engagement.

In Victoria, while many hospitals are beginning to implement similar approaches, they are often islands of innovation in a sea of indifference.

Gary,
The ANF is saying that they had been negotiating for eight months without any bans. But the Government wasn't interested in coming to the table before the industrial action (work bans) started, even though Victorian nurses were among the lowest-paid in Australia.

The other issue is the nurses desire to protect fixed nurse-patient ratios, let alone improve them. The Brumby Government, it seems, wants to do away with nurse-patient ratios.

Instead of negotiating hundreds of nurses have reported that hospital managers had penalised them for closing beds —with some losing more than half their pay.It's , a href="http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/the-new-premiers-confrontational-style-could-alienate-voters/2007/10/24/1192941149207.html">confrontation.