Thanks for all the MyHospitals suggestions but is anyone listening?

Members of the Crikey Health and Medical Panel (CHAMP) recently made dozens of wide-ranging suggestions for what should be included in the forthcoming MyHospitals website.

The post drew this comment from health policy analyst Margo Saunders:

“I continue to be incredibly impressed by the thoughtfulness and soundness of so many of the ideas offered by members of the CHAMP in relation to issues like health reform, financing, governance, hospital information, etc.

You have created something like a daily version of a 2020 Summit without the travel costs.  Dozens of knowledgeable, experienced, intelligent people are providing their expert views in a sort of on-demand tutorial…for nothing.

But: will it all be ‘for nothing’, or can this information actually be influential if it is communicated to those who can actually use it?

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare? Department of Health and Ageing’s Transition Office? Roxon’s office? Jane Halton?

For all I know, this is already happening, but my experience of the public service is that if you want anyone to pay attention to something, it needs to be packaged up and addressed to them, with a specific outcome requested. And of course they jump to whatever the Minister requests.”

Croakey writes: Thanks for the suggestions – I will bundle up the MyHospitals list and send it off to the PM, Ministers Roxon and Snowdon, Jane Halton, the DoHA Transition Office and the AIHW. Will let you know if I hear anything back. (Am not overly hopeful on this as I did send a list of Croakey suggestions on health reform to PM Gillard recently, but so far there has not even been an acknowledgement by way of reply.)