MPs, senators must work together on health: AHHA

The Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association (AHHA) has called on all elected representatives to work in partnership on health and prompted cross-benchers to heed voters’ concerns on healthcare reform and funding.

AHHA chief executive Alison Verhoeven said: “The message to all MPs and senators from this election is that health policy is not something Australians will tolerate lip service on.”

Verhoeven said the Coalition would need to work in genuine partnership with all stakeholders, including opposition and cross-bench members, listening and responding to diverse views and not just those of a favoured few.

She welcomed Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s pledge to regain the voters’ trust on public healthcare but added: “The Coalition must acknowledge that voter concerns are legitimate and long-standing, not a response simply to election campaigning.”

Nursing Review sat down with Verhoeven to discuss the ways the election results may affect healthcare and what the elected party must do to make health a national priority.