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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 9 Hansard (27 August) . . Page.. 3313 ..

MR CORBELL (continuing):

capacity of the people of the ACT to easily see how the ACT health system is responding to the demand for elective surgery.

In conclusion, the proposition of Mr Smyth is that we take out information, since we report on more than the previous government reported on. We report in a way that is more accurate-because we validate the data-in a way that protects people's privacy and in a way that ensures that people are able to get an easy grasp of their waiting times. We measure that in a way that is consistent with the national reporting measures.

For those reasons I propose to move an amendment to Mr Smyth's motion. I move the following amendment:

1. notes that the previous Liberal Government did not publish hospital waiting list information on a set date;
2. notes the provision of information by speciality monthly could lead to identification of specific patients and/or specialists given the small size of the ACT system and that reporting in this manner does not assist the analysis of performance of the health system;
3. notes that the ACT Health web site will be amended to include all information in the monthly waiting list report as well as quarterly waiting times for all specialities. The web site will be active from September 2003;
4. notes that the waiting list information prepared by the Stanhope government provide more information and are more accurate than previous reporting due to the auditing practice introduced by this Government;
5. calls on the government to table, the waiting list figures for the previous month for elective surgery in Canberra's public hospitals on the next Assembly sitting day.

This is the approach of a considered, accountable and responsive government that is addressing this complex issue in a serious and reasonable way. Mr Smyth proposes to go back to a very poor way of reporting data, which was less accurate, less comprehensive and less accountable.

MS TUCKER: (6.12) This debate is about the provision of information to the Assembly and to the public. When Mr Smyth first put the motion on the notice paper in May last year, the response from the then minister's office was that the information was available in the library and that in any case the government would be developing an improved type of bulletin combining data from both Calvary Public Hospital and the Canberra Hospital.

At that time I was not convinced by the government and planned to support the motion. In the intervening months, my office inquired of Mr Smyth's whether he might be bringing the motion back on for debate. I am pleased to have this issue finally here. The motion today expands on the original requests for the reports to be tabled. That is because in the meantime the government introduced the new format, and this format has resulted in less information being made available.

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