The Rudd Government is about to overhaul our healthcare system and is asking for suggestions from the Australian public on how best to achieve this.

The website www.yourhealth.gov.au is where you need to go to make your comments.

As a Naturopath my focus is largely on preventing ill health through dietary and lifestyle advice and natural medicine. I believe that educating people on the benefits of healthy living is the key to a healthier and happier Australia. The following is my submission to the Rudd Government on healthcare reform:

Submission to the Health Reform Taskforce
11 September, 2009

My name is Merril Bowater and I work as a Naturopathic Nutritionist in Melbourne’s west.

I am fortunate to be able to spend up to an hour with new clients discussing the benefits of healthy dietary and lifestyle choices to address their health concerns. This education encourages my clients to learn how to keep themselves healthy in the future.

Our doctors are under enormous time constraints and do not have time to discuss preventative medicine, dietary and lifestyle issues with patients.

My clients often comment that they appreciate the extra time that a Naturopath spends with them and the focus on ongoing wellness. Giving people greater responsibility for their health is empowering and cost saving for the health care system in general. This in turn, produces a healthier and more productive nation.

A recent client of mine was prescribed a cholesterol lowering medication but he confessed to spending $200 a week on fast food. Clearly this is counter-productive. With the right dietary/lifestyle advice he could reduce or eliminate the need for expensive prescription drugs and learn how to manage this condition himself. This would produce a significant saving for the PBS.

Medical intervention with drugs can be life saving. However, many of my clients discontinue their prescribed medications due to the side-effects which are often worse than the original condition. If they do continue with their prescribed medication, they often have to resort to taking additional prescription drugs to deal with the side-effects of the original drugs that they are taking.

Most Naturopathic clients are looking for a safe and effective way to manage their health conditions with few or no side-effects. Naturopaths are often sought out as a ‘last resort’ by frustrated and very ill people with multiple pathologies, who have been through a battery of tests, procedures and prescriptions. Having reached the end of their tether with the healthcare system, they are willing to pay for consultations and natural medications out of their own pocket to achieve a sense of wellbeing and control over their health.

However, many more people are unable to access Naturopathic healthcare due to the cost.

Health funds cover Naturopathic consultations with good reason. They know that it makes sound economic sense to keep people well with education, rather than to foot the bill for surgeries, hospital stays and specialists which runs into the thousands.

If people could be given the opportunity to consult with a Naturopath to enhance their ongoing healthcare, I believe it would be very well received and the outcome could be dramatic for the nation.

Most of our most serious health concerns are entirely preventable with the right knowledge. I see weight loss clients every week who are in danger of heart disease, diabetes and cancer, reduce their risk of these conditions simply by changing their diet and lifestyle. On a large scale, this could save the country billions.

I’m not advocating Medicare coverage for Naturopaths but other incentives such as one off discount vouchers for an initial consultation with a Naturopath could work very well indeed.

We have the opportunity to change our health care system for the better. Let’s combine complementary medicine with western medicine for the best health outcome for our nation.

Merril Bowater ND ATMS
Getting Well Naturally, Naturopathic, Nutrition & Weight Loss Clinic
1 Greville Street, Caroline Springs Vic. 3023
Ph: (03) 8683 9487
gettingwellnaturally@gmail.com
www.gettingwellnaturally.com.au

If you would like to send comments longer than 500 words I’d recommend mailing your letter to the: Health Reform Taskforce, MDP 155, GPO Box 9848, Woden ACT 2601 (as the comments box on the website cannot handle submissions longer than 500 words).