MP says obese should wait for care

OBESE patients who refuse to improve their lifestyle should be forced to wait longer for medical treatment, an Ipswich MP has claimed.

Jo-Ann Miller, Labor MP for Bundamba, said people who were living on a “Macca’s” diet were placing an intolerable strain on Queensland Health.

Ms Miller has called on her own government to do more to educate Queenslanders about how to eat healthily and manage their own weight.

But she believes patients whose health problems have been caused by being overweight or by smoking – but refuse to change their habits - should be pushed to the bottom of the queue for medical treatment.

“If things keep going how they are, there won’t be a choice but to get tough,” Mrs Miller said.

“Every person in this country must realise that their health is their responsibility and that in future years we just might be facing a situation where a rationing of health services may become a reality,” Mrs Miller said.”

Queensland’s Health Minister Paul Lucas said there would have to be a major push from the public before government considered any form of ‘health rationing’.

“The decision to provide health care is made on clinical need. Any decision to impose other criteria for the provision of health care would require considerable community input and debate,” Mr Lucas said.

Heart disease treatments, such as drugs, angioplasty, cardiac bypass procedures, valve replacement and cardiac transplant are very expensive.

An angioplasty for a patient who has had a heart attack costs more than $7000, a coronary bypass would cost about $23,000 while there would be many other costs involved with each case, such as the ambulance, intensive care, and rehabilitation.

Mr Lucas said it was reasonable communities would have to make a decision about how much they are willing to spend on health care before it gets to the point where state and federal budgets were spent on nothing but health.

“It is clear that the health of Queenslanders and the health system is under threat from chronic disease,” he said.

Australia’s health budget crisis was the major issues raised at the Commonwealth Parliamentary

Association Conference (CPAC) in Perth earlier this month.

Professor Fiona Stanley, a former Australian of the year for her work in the health sector, was one of the speakers at CPAC and warned of a potential ‘rationing of health services’ unless preventative health care was ramped up.

The Queensland Chief Health Officer’s 2008 report said ten obesity related diseases were included in the 15 diseases which drove the 56 per cent increase in health care expenditure in Australia between 1987 and 2000.

The net cost of loss of wellbeing due to obesity in Australia is valued at $50 billion with about $10 billion in Queensland.