NSW: Patients will pay for blood: Skinner

AAP General News (Australia)
12-05-2008
NSW: Patients will pay for blood: Skinner

By Belinda Cranston and Bonny Symons-Brown

SYDNEY, Dec 5 AAP - The NSW government's decision to charge private hospitals for blood
supplies will be a cost ultimately borne by patients, the opposition says.

In last month's mini-budget, the government announced it would no longer subsidise
blood services for private hospitals, saving $8 million a year.

Opposition health spokeswoman Jillian Skinner said there was no doubt private hospitals
would pass on the cost.

"Who do you think pays for the hospital treatment? It's the patient," Mrs Skinner told
reporters in Sydney on Friday.

"It will be passed on in patient charges or through the patient's insurance."

Mrs Skinner said charging for blood ran counter to the National Blood Agreement, which
stated blood products should be free.

"People are incensed about the idea that they have to pay for a product that they freely
donate," she said.

"There are clear guidelines with the Commonwealth about not charging for blood products
... and it's simply not honest for the state (health) minister to try and mealy-mouth
his way out of this by saying it's some administrative charge.

"The reality is it's a tax on blood that is freely donated by the population of NSW."

However, Health Minister John Della Bosca said public hospitals paid for blood distribution,
transport and storage, and it was only fair that private hospitals should contribute to
those costs.

"Blood is free, blood will remain a free good in NSW," Mr Della Bosca told reporters in Brisbane.

"Everybody who donates blood can be absolutely confident that blood will be distributed
to patients on the basis of clinical need.

"The issue here is public hospitals, taxpayer-funded public hospitals, have to pay
for blood services. Private hospitals should as well."

But Mrs Skinner said a "blood tax" could have disastrous consequences for donations.

"If people are saying, `Uh-uh I'm not going to do this any more because the government's
going to make sure there's a charge', I worry about that," she said.

Already, the Red Cross Blood Service (RCBS) says it has been inundated with calls from
donors angered by the government's announcement.

"They rang our call centre to say they would not continue to be donors," RCBS NSW operations
manager Garry Wolfe said on Friday.

"It's a gift of life. They (donors) give it for free in support of their community.

They want to support that system."

Red Cross spokesman Nicholas McGowan said he was hoping to secure an urgent meeting
with Mr Della Bosca in the coming days.

"We're hoping to impress on the government our overwhelming concern that if this policy
does have a negative impact, or is likely to have a negative impact, they consider that
before implementing such policy," he said.

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KEYWORD: BLOOD WRAP

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