Page 417 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 13 May 1992
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There has been a bit of feasting on the emotions in response to this important statement about the way we deliver health. Labor is about delivering a strong public health system with access to the community. We will rebuild the hospital system, and we will restore it from the damage you did, Mr Humphries.
Mr Humphries: It is a shambles, Wayne. Morale is low, people are missing out on hospital services.
MADAM SPEAKER: Order! Please let Mr Berry continue, Mr Humphries.
MR BERRY: The situation in which the hospitals found themselves was a direct result of the inaction of the former Minister; there is no question about that. For the Opposition spokesperson now to try to feed on the emotions of the community and to forget recent history is an absolute joke. We really have to question the judgment of people who would take those sorts of actions.
A little while ago we heard from Mrs Carnell some discussion about cardio-thoracic surgery. She talked about 300 people requiring - - -
Mrs Carnell: I quoted you from the Canberra Times.
MR BERRY: I heard you talk about 300. You do not think it is 300 any more?
Mrs Carnell: No, I quoted you; that is what I said.
MR BERRY: You do not believe that it is 300 any more?
Mrs Carnell: I believe you. It must be true; it is in the Canberra Times.
MR BERRY: So, we have changed our tune. We do not know how many it is. The popular figure late last year was about 300 people. I raised questions about the reliability of figures, and rightly so. That was another legacy that was left to Labor to tidy up. The accuracy of figures had to be questioned at all times. We have done a little work in relation to that and we have discovered that 196 patients from the ACT underwent cardio-thoracic procedures in Sydney in 1989-90.
Mrs Carnell: Were you wrong when you said 300?
MR BERRY: No, I always said that the figures were so far out of step with the previous year's that they really could not be said to be a fair indicator. The previous year was about 140 and then the number jumped to 300. Why did it jump? Having checked the figures and gone to the trouble of inquiring interstate and doing all those sorts of things, we have found that there were about 196 people - we do not get all our exercise from jumping to conclusions - and 116 of these had open heart surgery.
All these figures have to be authenticated. Any change to the way we deliver procedures in the Australian Capital Territory has to be carefully planned, and that is what the board is doing. We have said that there is provision within the new diagnostic and treatment block to fit further advancements in cardio-thoracic surgery; there is no question about that. The planning for those advancements will continue, but it will be done on the basis of close scrutiny of the figures and a clear understanding of what we are likely to expect. As I have always said, there will be no approval for new procedures unless they are first class procedures.
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