The Sydney Morning Herald logo
Advertisement
Stephen Duckett

Stephen Duckett

Stephen Duckett is Honorary Enterprise Professor in the School of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne.

Victorians go to the polls on November 26.

More and more hospital beds: Health promises lack vision

Unfortunately, 2022 looks like another election where neither major party is offering a 21st-century vision for a better health system.

  • Stephen Duckett

Latest

Australians pay more than $1.3 billion out-of-pocket to medical specialists every year.

Bill shock: the unhealthy truth about medical specialist fees

In 2021, an estimated half a million Australians either deferred or missed out on seeing a specialist because they couldn’t afford it.

  • Stephen Duckett
Rules can only make a difference if they are followed.

Back-to-school plan strikes a sensible balance, but it won’t be easy

The government is right to make getting children back to school a top priority. But keeping schools open won’t be easy.

  • Jordana Hunter and Stephen Duckett
Soon, about 300,000 older Australians with more complex needs will be receiving personal care at home.

Expanding home care is risky without a workforce plan

The federal government has dramatically expanded home care for older Australians, but poor-quality care will remain a hidden problem if the workforce remains undervalued, underqualified and insecure.

  • Stephen Duckett and Hal Swerissen
Narkitaa Van Ekeren, ICU nurse unit manager at the Northern Hospital, and her colleagues are gearing up for an influx of COVID patients in next three weeks.

Melburnians heave a sigh of relief – except our health workers

The end of lockdowns means the burden of responding to the pandemic shifts from falling on the whole population through lockdowns, to falling on the health system and its staff.

  • Stephen Duckett
The pandemic has hugely disrupted the lives of Victoria’s schoolchildren.

What should be in Victoria’s school reopening plan

The Victorian government should weigh up all possible options to get students back to school safely before the end of the year – even if that means delaying plans to ease other restrictions.

  • Stephen Duckett, Anika Stobart and Jordana Hunter
Advertisement
A paediatric nurse helps prepare extra beds at the Monash Medical Centre on Wednesday.

Will Victoria’s health system cope if COVID cases increase?

Hospitals are facing burgeoning demands from COVID cases, exacerbated by the reality that they were stretched before the current outbreak.

  • Stephen Duckett
Premier Daniel Andrews.

Where next with Victoria’s lockdowns?

The Victorian government could take a more nuanced approach to lockdown restrictions, but it is too early to throw in the towel completely.

  • Stephen Duckett
Prime Minister Scott Morrison outlines the national plan to live with the virus.

‘Living with COVID’ could end up two very different ways

When we try to imagine what “living with COVID” will look like, we need to realise that there are two very different “living with COVID” worlds.

  • Stephen Duckett
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the border will stay closed until 80 per cent of our adults are vaccinated.

Doherty modelling suggests COVID reopening plan is reckless

The national cabinet should not be pulling a trigger too early and consign Australia to even more lockdowns and a higher number of COVID-19 deaths.

  • Anika Stobart and Stephen Duckett