The federal government's health reforms will lead to a swelling of bureaucracy in Canberra, opposition health spokesman Peter Dutton says.
Under the government's plans for a takeover of state-run public hospitals, outlined yesterday, the commonwealth will pay a far greater percentage of costs, funded mainly by redirecting GST revenue.
Central to the plans are local hospital networks, to be funded directly by Canberra.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott recently also outlined plans to have hospitals run by boards made up of local representatives and medical experts.
But Mr Dutton says the government's scheme will create a new layer of bureaucracy and insists there are key differences between the government's and the opposition's proposals.
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"I think there will be a swelling of the bureaucracy in Canberra, there has to be to oversee all of the new arrangements.
That's why there is some scepticism around," Mr Dutton told Fairfax Radio Network on Thursday.
Mr Dutton said he was open to ways of improving public hospitals but not at the expense of a rise in bureaucracy.
"I don't want to see any more money spent on health bureaucrats," he said.
"Our doctors and nurses have been starved of funds in NSW in particular for years and years.
"If it's just transferring the same system across to the commonwealth and not reforming, fundamentally, the way in which outpatients are delivered services, then I am opposed to it."
