Remote Hospital Reform in the Context of Australian Health Care Reforms

Public hospitals play an important role in the delivery of essential healthcare in Australia as in many countries. The Australian Government has in the recent years implemented national healthcare reform to improve the performance of and access to public hospital services. This reform extends to all public hospitals including remote hospitals. However, there is limited information on how reform should be implemented in relation to remote hospitals. With this background, this article presents literature about national healthcare reforms, reform in Australia, hospital reform and the context in which remote hospitals operate. Based on our study, while hospital services and access to them is very important for remote population in Australia there is limited evidence to show national healthcare reforms have improved access in remote areas of Australia. Our study indicates the need for studies focusing on remote hospitals to identify the contextual issues these hospitals face and how reforms can be adapted to address their unique needs.