Quality of care in Australian hospitals lacks oversight
16-Nov-15, Merimbula News
Australia needs to collect more information to measure the quality of care that hospitals provide to patients nationally, an OECD report says.
Image: Merimbula News
The OECD's review of Australia's health system, to be released on Monday, said that it was performing "remarkably well" despite its "fragmented nature" and "sometimes strained" relationship between federal, state and territory governments over health funding.
Australia was the OECD's fifth most obese country, it said, and its health system would in future have to deal with an increasing number of patients with diabetes and other chronic conditions.
While Australia had improved its national standards for health care, it said: "A surprising lack of data on the quality and outcomes of care marks out Australia from its peers."