NSW Health Minister Morris Iemma has unveiled a $30 million package aimed at stopping an exodus of doctors from children's hospitals over the medical indemnity crisis.
The $30 million dollar package includes an estimated $5 million dollars a year to extend the Treasury Managed Fund medical indemnity coverage to doctors who are treating children in public hospitals.
Another $11.3 million dollars over the next three years will go to children's orthopedic services in at Westmead, Randwick and Newcastle children's hospitals.
More than $3 million dollars will fund potentially life-saving equipment at children's hospitals, as previously announced by Premier Bob Carr.
Mr Iemma said the scheme would give doctors indemnity cover in public hospitals, even if the patients were private patients. Feared resignations had threatened the standard of care, he said.
Commenting on the package in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Michael Bellemore, head of orthopaedics at the Children's Hospital at Westmead, said the plan had convinced most of his 10 specialist surgeons not to quit.
"They all indicated that they were going to resign," he said, adding that all but one had now indicated they would stay.
Reference
'NSW doctors to get $30m shot in the arm,' Sydney Morning Herald, 27th January 2004.
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