Terminal Decline

Healthcare in Australia is in crisis - what are the solutions?

This book is my attempt to find the truth about health care in Australia today; what decisions were made in the 1970s and 1980s that have resulted in the system in which I work; and who made those decisions'

After the success of MAKING THE CUT, in which he described his work as a surgeon, and THE PATIENT, in which he wrote about the life of a man terminally ill with cancer, Mohamed Khadra moves to their natural sequel - the topical subject of the healthcare system in Australia.

In this book, Khadra explains how our hospitals came to be stifled by bureaucracy; whether we can and should administer universally free health care to our population; and how best we can do that in 2010. He also peppers the book with compelling examples of real people he has treated - patients whose health he should have been able to improve, but who became stuck in a system that made their lives worse.

Heath care is an incredibly emotive topic, which everyone has an opinion on. With the release of Prime Minister Rudd's proposed reforms at the beginning of 2010, this book is a timely reminder of how they may or may not help resuscitate a system in crisis.

About The Author

Mohamed Khadra is a professor of Surgery at the University of Sydney, Australia. He has had a successful and varied career as a leader in education and medicine, internationally and in Australia. He has a degree in Medicine, a PhD and a fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. He also has a postgraduate degree in Computing and a Masters in Education. His roles have included Inaugural Chair of Surgery at the Australian National University, Pro-vice Chancellor for Health, Design and Science at the University of Canberra, Professor of Surgery and Head of the School of Rural Health for the University of New South Wales. He has won several research prizes, including the Noel Newton Prize for surgical research and the Alban Gee Prize in urology. Mohamed is co-founder of the Institute of Technology Australia, an accredited higher-education provider that contributes to social justice by delivering accessible and affordable degrees to students in developing countries. He is the author of MAKING THE CUT: A SURGEON’S STORIES OF LIFE ON THE EDGE; THE PATIENT: ONE MAN’S JOURNEY THROUGH THE AUSTRALIAN HEALTH-CARE SYSTEM; and co-author with David Williamson of the play AT WHAT COST?