Page 3948 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 9 November 1994
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We also need to check the extent to which we have double counting on waiting lists - people on waiting lists at both hospitals or on waiting lists in ACT and New South Wales hospitals. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, in its major study on health indicators over the last few years, has said that waiting lists are a notoriously inappropriate method of measuring hospital inefficiency.
Mrs Carnell: So are patient numbers; so are budgets.
MR CONNOLLY: In fact, patient throughput is a very good indicator, Mrs Carnell.
Mrs Carnell: Why has it gone down?
MR CONNOLLY: As I said, there are a couple of points. In the first quarter of a four-quarter trend, we are doing just fine. Again, I am sure that Mr Kaine could understand a four-quarter trend; I am not so sure about the Leader of the Opposition. In fact, I will get some extracts from that Australian Institute of Health and Welfare publication and send them to you, Mr Kaine, because it is very valuable reading. I would urge all members to have a close study of the Access Economics examination of ACT Health since self-government. It is a very commendable read.
MR KAINE: I have a supplementary question, Madam Speaker. The Minister spoke at length, as usual; but he did not answer my question. Would he now like to answer my question: Is he satisfied that the six months' waiting list, which has more than doubled in one year, is acceptable? If not, what does he intend to do about stopping it from doubling again in another few months' time, and to another peak?
MR CONNOLLY: What I said was that you cannot necessarily say whether or not it is acceptable unless you have a good feel for the extent to which it represents real clinical need; the extent to which it represents people who are really waiting, as opposed to people who may be on several waiting lists.
What do I intend to do about it? Again, I did say that we are looking very carefully at the Victorian model, which is probably the best and tightest look at actual people on waiting lists and assessing degrees of clinical urgency. There may be one person who has been waiting for seven months and for whom there is a pressing clinical urgency. I would have to acknowledge that, if we could find such a person, any clinician would say, "That is unsatisfactory". On the other hand, there may be the person who has been waiting for six months, or 12 months, or 24 months; and you or I, or any clinician, would say that it was quite appropriate, because there was very little, if any, urgent clinical need for that patient. At the moment, the level of data that ACT Health has is just not able to answer that question; but we are working on it.
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