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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 8 Hansard (27 June) . . Page.. 2341 ..

Mr Berry: It is a waste of time and money, and you know it.

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Berry says that it is a waste of time and money. I believe it was valuable. I worked with that system - so did Mr Berry for quite a significant part of his time as Minister for Health, probably more than half of it, before he got around to abolishing it - and it was a useful tool. The people who served on those bodies were good people. They brought experience which was valuable and which was deeper than that of most Ministers who came to that task. Certainly, it was deeper experience in these matters than that of any Minister preceding Mrs Carnell. That depth of experience was important and valuable. Mr Berry is right to say that Ministers take responsibility for all matters in health. That is clearly the case. Mr Berry somehow imagines that Mrs Carnell will be able to say, "It is not my fault that the budget has blown", or, "It is not my fault that the waiting list has gone up", or whatever it might be.

Mr Berry: She has done it on every other one, everywhere else.

MR HUMPHRIES: She does not say that. She has always accepted responsibility for those things, and she will continue to do so as Minister for Health if we are unfortunate enough to be in those positions. I also believe that having the capacity to refer issues to a board, to assign day-to-day responsibility for management of the health system to a board with experience and a focus on the improvement of quality of outcomes, is very important. Mr Berry says that extra layers of administration are to be added on to the process. That simply is not the case. Mr Berry obviously has not read what is in this Bill.

Mr Berry: You have not either, then.

MR HUMPHRIES: I certainly have. "Layers" implies that one is on top of the other and that the work that is done at one level is repeated or checked or somehow replicated at another level. Certainly, if there was a board of health that was making decisions which then had to be verified or checked or confirmed by the Department of Health, then there would be a serious problem. That is not what is provided for in this legislation. What this legislation provides for is a purchaser-provider model. The board of health purchases services; the Health and Community Care Service provides those services. The focus is on service. The focus is on outcomes and deliveries within budgets. That is what our system needs at this point in time - a focus on service. I do not think we have achieved that in recent years with the present model. In fact, I think the evidence proves pretty clearly that it does not achieve that. Mr Berry cannot expect an end to the cycle of problems which he dealt with as a Minister, particularly with budgets blowing out, without some different structure in place. I ask Mr Berry what exactly it is that he thinks should change to deal with the health system's problems.

Mr Berry: The Government.

MR HUMPHRIES: That would be a good answer if this Government were the only one that had been responsible for blow-outs in the health budget, but it has not been, of course. Mr Berry himself presided over four successive blow-outs in the health budget. You cannot say it is the Government's fault and then exonerate yourself. Budgets have blown out.

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