Page 1347 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 16 April 1991
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ADJOURNMENT
Motion (by Mr Collaery) proposed:
That the Assembly do now adjourn.
Hospital System
MR BERRY (9.49): I rise to speak on an issue of considerable importance for the people of the ACT. What it focuses on is an apparent move by the Government to cover up the difficulties which face the people of Canberra in relation to access to our hospital system. Today, in debate, the Minister seemed to favour the provision of admission and discharge figures which would indicate the utilisation of our hospital system but would not, of course, give any indication about how many people could not use our hospital system.
That is the embarrassment for this Government, because what has clearly been a problem for the Government has been the number of people who cannot use our hospital system. We know, for example, that on the figures provided to us - and they were to December of last year - there were 1,500 people - around a 60 per cent blow-out - on waiting lists. This has been caused directly by this Government's management of the hospital system.
In effect, it has done severe damage to the hospital system because there are many ACT and New South Wales residents who can now no longer be part of the admission and discharge figures that Mr Humphries talks about. So, that is a real matter of concern to the community and a matter of concern to a party which is concerned about providing an accessible and affordable hospital system. We stand remote from those people on the other side of the house who do not seem to have any commitment to such a hospital system.
In the course of discussion, Mr Humphries was also critical of me for raising the issue of waiting lists again. He had better get used to it, because we will raise them over and over again until we get all of the facts and the figures - and we want them quickly. We do not want to persist with the requirement of leaning on the Government to get these figures. The Government should stop the cover-up and make the figures available to the community and, of course, to this Assembly.
Mr Humphries failed to mention that on 12 February we asked for the figures for the months of October and November. That question, Mr Speaker, is still on notice and has yet to be answered. It was joined by another question, which was put on notice today, which calls for the waiting lists by specialty for people waiting for surgery in ACT
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