00:00Today marks the final meeting of health ministers from across the country.
00:07A growing stoush over the last few months over public hospital funding has been brewing.
00:13At its crux, the states say they need more money to help solve what is a public hospital system in crisis,
00:19one that's being exacerbated by a lack of appropriate aged care beds.
00:23New data has shown that more than 3,000 acute beds are being taken up by aged care patients,
00:29well enough to be discharged into an appropriate aged care facility.
00:32But there's just no room for them.
00:34So naturally, the flow-on effects of that on a hospital system already at capacity are enormous.
00:39In these meetings with the health ministers, they're attempting to work out the conditions of a new five-year public hospital funding deal
00:45between the Commonwealth and the states.
00:48The offer was initially for $20 billion.
00:51The Prime Minister yesterday added an additional billion to that.
00:55But the state health ministers say it is still not enough.
00:58Yesterday in Queensland Parliament, the Health Minister Tim Nichols outlined his feelings on the matter.
01:03Queenslanders who might have been expecting a Christmas gift from their federal government
01:08have instead heard from the Grinch.
01:11Now the Commonwealth will be hoping today's meeting goes positively for them
01:15with the goal of wrapping up this hospital funding deal by the end of the year.
01:20We spoke to the Health Minister Mark Butler earlier this morning.
01:23He outlined his thoughts on this funding deal.
01:26Our job as health ministers is to try to narrow the points of difference that still exist between us,
01:32not just in hospital funding but also in disabilities reform down to three or four or five points
01:38that then our bosses, the Premiers and the Prime Minister can come together and finalise before the end of the year,
01:45before Christmas hopefully.
01:46And I think we're making good progress on that.
01:48With all of the ministers converging on Brisbane today,
01:51there will certainly be plenty of eyes on this meeting
01:54with billions of dollars laid out on the table
01:58and the future of thousands of patients in Australian hospitals still up in the air.
