Ted O'Brien (Fairfax, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I congratulate the Prime Minister and the Minister for Health on the recent announcement of a competitive public application process for 20 Medicare-eligible MRI licences at locations of need around the country. Together, with 10 preapproved locations, they represent a $175 million investment in better and more affordable health care for over 400,000 Australians.

The Sunshine Coast is one of the fastest growing population centres in the country, yet access to Medicare-subsidised MRI scans has fallen behind. It's struggling to keep up. This situation is especially acute at Buderim Private Hospital, the only not-for-profit private hospital on the Sunshine Coast where patients regularly refuse MRI scans as the best clinical option simply because they cannot afford the cost. We cannot sustain a health system where public inpatients have better access to services, including MRI scans, than public outpatients or private patients. I therefore support Buderim Private Hospital for a full MRI licence and also Sunshine Coast Radiology and Pacific Radiology to upgrade their partially-eligible MRI licences to better meet the growing needs of health care on the Sunshine Coast.