Page 3531 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 12 October 1994
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This will bring us to 600. Here we come to the interesting part:
Mrs Carnell has tabled some internal information bulletins produced by the Casemix Development Unit at Woden Valley Hospital.
Casemix, of course, says Mrs Carnell, will solve every problem. The advice continues:
Unfortunately, these bulletins are not accurate as they have not been updated in accordance with changes in the hospital since 1 July 1994.
Mr Humphries: But they are your documents, Minister; your department has produced them.
MR CONNOLLY: Yes; they are internal working documents, basically for the purpose of working up an accounting system. They do not, and do not purport to, represent the true state of hospital beds. If you had really wanted information and had asked me, I could have told you. Instead, Mrs Carnell came into this Assembly to preside over a silly little political stunt. Because Ron Phillips was being gone after in the New South Wales Assembly, you decided that you would have to go after me in this Assembly. You were accusing me of misleading the Assembly. You wanted to move a censure or no-confidence motion. But members were not particularly interested in such an obviously foolish political statement. You got up here, each one of you, one after the other, and accused me of misleading. You sit down and listen to this. The advice continues:
To emphasise the problems with this document -
do your research in future -
you may notice that the total of 562 beds cannot be achieved by adding up the individual bed items listed. They actually total 574 beds.
The major inaccuracies in the document tabled yesterday include: The 20 neonatal nursery beds are not included.
Mr De Domenico: They are not beds; they are cots.
MR CONNOLLY: The 12 high dependency unit beds, which, in fact, have not been open, are incorrectly included. Four of those beds are to open.
Cots are beds and have always been counted as such. You foolish little politician. If you were interested in health, you would not have raised this matter. I am not referring to your physical manner; I am referring to an intellectual manner. Cots in neonatal intensive care have always been counted as beds here, in New South Wales and everywhere else. There are a number of other inaccuracies in the medical, surgical and short-stay beds. The material that you tabled yesterday and accused me of misleading the Assembly over is totally wrong. I look forward to your apology, but I will not hold my breath. The advice continues:
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