Page 274 - Week 01 - Thursday, 24 February 1994
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Mr De Domenico: But he is spending more money, too, is he not?
MRS CARNELL: He is spending more money as well, yes. It makes an absolute mockery of Mr Berry's commitment to maintain services and to maintain hospital beds at the same level when Royal Canberra Hospital was closed. In fact, the people of Canberra were promised - and I am sure that Mr Humphries would remember this - that we would have 1,000 public hospital beds by the year 2000. That was a step in the right direction, but we have gone in the wrong direction, from 891 to 658. That is just a remarkable reduction. In June 1991 there were 405 beds at Woden Valley Hospital. That is before the redevelopment. Today, as we mentioned in question time, we have spent a sizeable amount of the $180m-odd allocated to the redevelopment and have increased the number of beds by a mere 77. No matter how Mr Berry looks at that, it means that we have spent over $100m for 77 beds. At the same time, of course, we have closed 283 beds.
This Minister has continually increased the pressure on nurses, doctors and other staff in our public hospital system. You know that you do that, Mr Berry. You suggest that the nurses, the doctors and the hospital staff - - -
Mr Berry: Talk about people. How many people have we treated?
MRS CARNELL: Almost the same number as were treated in 1991. The staff are picking up the tab for Mr Berry's mismanagement. They are being required to get patients through the system quicker, to discharge them quicker - and that is with occupancy rates that are regularly around 100 per cent. Every single writer on health economics knows that you cannot operate a hospital with occupancy rates so high, because quality care suffers.
We also learned this week that doctors are having their surgery lists cancelled at the last minute. There are not just surgery-free days, Mr Berry; surgery lists are being cancelled regularly or reduced. Why? Why can these surgeons who want to operate, and they do - Mr Berry was right there - not do something about the waiting list? The reason is that there are no beds. You cannot operate if there are no beds. In fact, what these surgeons are being told, Mr Deputy Speaker, is that there are no nurses and there are no beds, because there is no money left. That is really what it comes down to. Yet here we have a Minister who spends his time trying to find ways to stop the registration of new obstetrics beds at John James Hospital - beds that could reduce the pressure on our public hospital system and that would not cost the ACT taxpayer one cent.
The costs of our public hospital services are 30 per cent higher than the national average. We have been told that again and again, as recently as last year. More evidence of this Minister's incompetence emerges when you look at his budget management. Over the last two budgets we have seen blow-outs of $17m.
Mr Berry: No, you have not.
MRS CARNELL: That is over two years.
Mr Berry: No, you have not.
Mr Humphries: Come on, Wayne!
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