Article excerpt:

A PROMINENT health expert has accused the federal government of having a "policy vacuum" on health, and of a "failure of leadership" for failing to immediately press on with implementation of key reform proposals.

Psychiatrist Ian Hickie claimed the final report of the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission had been "watered down" from the interim document published in February, and the changes had "let the government off the hook" by opening the door to a more gradual implementation.

Professor Hickie, who is executive director of the Brain and Mind Research Institute at the University of Sydney, said, "We have a policy vacuum -- what is the government's policy? The previous government's policy was clear-cut: the average person pays more, or takes out private health insurance.

"This government's policy is not clear.

"They could take over primary healthcare tomorrow; it doesn't need a referendum. They could make hospital funding far more efficient; that doesn't need a referendum either.

"What's going on here is political spin ... We're being told there will be discussions with the states, but Western Australia and Victoria are already saying 'no way', so if it's left to the states, we will be stuck with what we have got now."