TASMANIAN nurses will be looking for graduate nurse program funds in today's federal budget for more transition to practice placements, Australian Nursing Federation state secretary Neroli Ellis says.
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Mrs Ellis said the ANF hoped its ``Passing the Buck'' campaign had worked, so today's budget would include more money for reimbursement of Higher Education Contribution Scheme payments for nurse graduates working in remote areas.
The ANF would also like to see funding incentives for nurses to work in areas of high need.
Australian Medical Association Northern Tasmanian spokesman Glenn Richardson said the group had a federal budget wish-list.
``But we are not holding our breath on any of it,'' Dr Richardson said.
``They (the government) are clearly looking at ways of saving money and then there's the likelihood that they won't be in government in another four months.
``We are concerned about what that will mean for some sections of the industry.''
Dr Richardson said there was a question mark over the future of Medicare Locals, which were set up as part of national health reforms, if there was a change of government at the September federal election.
Medicare Locals were funded more than $600 million nationally, and they were looking for double that amount next financial year, Dr Richardson said.
The AMA's most pressing concern was the survival of public hospitals, he said.
``We would still like to see the federal takeover of hospitals so that there is proper funding of hospitals that are straining under the weight of chronic disease,'' he said.
``And we'd like to see the removal of the cap on deductions for self-education.''
The federal government is expected to bring in legislation before the September election that would see the amount that health services practitioners can claim for self-education, such as attending conferences, capped at $2000.