NT alcohol rehab plan hits snag
A plan by the Northern Territory Government to force alcoholics into rehabilitation appears to have hit a snag.
The Territory wants to use accommodation at a hospital in Darwin as one of its mandatory rehabilitation centres, but the Federal Government says that could breach a federal health funding agreement.
The mandatory alcohol rehabilitation program is due to start July 1.
To meet that deadline, the Territory Government is depending on initially housing the bulk of the patients at Royal Darwin Hospital.
But the Federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek says the Commonwealth is not ready to hand over the use of the federally funded building.
"There are still a great number of questions that I would like answered before any final agreement from the Commonwealth," she said.
When Labor was in power in the Northern Territory in 2010, the Federal Government committed $19 million of funding for the hospital accommodation.
Since then the Country Liberals have come to power.
Ms Plibersek says the Northern Territory is still under an agreement to use the building for hospital patients.
"It was very clearly provided for that reason, and the Health and Hospitals Fund Board would need to approve any change in the use of this facility."
In a letter to the Northern Territory's Health Minister, Ms Plibersek says to get that approval, the Northern Territory Government will have to satisfy a number of questions.
She says the Territory will have to show there is other accommodation for people visiting Darwin for hospital treatment and will have to show it can still meet its targets for elective surgery.
"If you have got people who are too sick to go home but could be looked after on the grounds of the hospital in this patient accommodation instead in acute or sub-acute hospital beds, that means you can look after fewer people," she said.
"I am very worried, then, about whether the Northern Territory would be able to meet its elective surgery targets."
'Legitimate health use'
The Northern Territory's Health Minister Robyn Lambley says she has not received Ms Plibersek's letter.
Ms Lambley argues the Territory is within its rights to use the hospital accommodation, also known as the Medi-Hotel, for mandatory rehabilitation.
"The fact that we're using the Medi-Hotel for the next 18 months to two years for a health purpose, a legitimate and very important health use, is all that matters really," she said.
The president of the Northern Territory branch of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Peter Beaumont, wants to know how hospital staff feel about having a high or medium-security facility on hospital grounds.
"I think it's up to us to ensure that standards are appropriate and that any building that might be used conforms with standards, particularly in relation to dangerous patients and patients that might wish to commit suicide, for example," he said.
Ms Plibersek says she is open to discussions but has yet to received sufficient detail about the plan.
She says if the Health and Hospitals Fund Board approve the Territory Government's proposal, it will then have to be approved by the Commonwealth.
It is not clear how long that process could take and whether it will delay the Territory Government's plan to roll out its key alcohol policy on the first of July.
Source: ABC News, 30 April 2013
