Page 1962 - Week 06 - Friday, 6 May 2005
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Let us not forget that the previous government failed to allow for the cessation of additional time-limited funding support from the commonwealth for additional elective surgery. We have had to do the hard work to find the resources within our own budget to provide for additional services. All up, our additional investment will see almost 900 more people each year accessing elective surgery in the ACT compared to 2002-03. We will improve our accountability to the community in relation to elective surgery by reshaping the way we report to reflect the importance of the length of time people wait for care and not solely the total number of people on the list. When you are in a queue, it is not the size of it that matters; it is how quickly you get to the front.
Provision of additional capacity for the special care needs of older people and those at risk of premature entry to residential care is an area of special importance to the Stanhope government. The government has provided almost $10 million for the provision of subacute and non-acute beds in the ACT health system, providing a wider range of care options to better meet community needs. This additional capacity will progressively come on line throughout 2005-06 and 2006-07 and will address a growing area of need for specialised models of care for older people with mental health conditions or those who have completed the acute and/or rehabilitation phases of their care in a general acute hospital ward environment. This, of course, will further improve the flow of patients in our public hospital system, increase access to beds, ease the pressure on emergency departments and enable more elective surgery to be undertaken with fewer cancellations. The government has already allocated recurrent funding across the outyears to fund the operation of this important facility.
I would also like to highlight an additional $800,000 that has been allocated to boost capacity in the high-growth home and community care, HACC, program. This jointly funded ACT-commonwealth program provides a range of community services to assist people to maintain their independence at home and prevents premature entry to a residential care service. A further initiative targeting enhanced capacity in our hospital and health care settings is the $650,000 allocated for the intermittent care service. This innovative service provides a tailored package of support and care options to enable older people to return home or move to a supported residential care system more quickly. All of these measures further free up access to acute hospital beds. When fully operational, up to 25 people can be assisted at any one time. Enhancing capacity at the back end of the care system by returning people safely to their homes with the necessary supports simultaneously boosts capacity at the front end of the system; that is, in emergency departments and acute hospital care.
On top of these major increases in health system capacity, we will be allocating $750,000 to provide additional capacity to manage the growth in demand for cancer care services, especially medical oncology. To ensure the necessary staff and infrastructure are available to support this massive boost in system capacity, we have allocated a further $1.3 million for targeted staffing initiatives in nursing, allied health and medical registrars, and $5.8 million for medical equipment, information management support, advanced medical imaging systems and an integrated quality and safety program.
Let me turn now to the issue of management, work practices and business processes used to deliver services. This is the third key factor underpinning the Stanhope government’s commitment to timely access to care based on clinical need. This relates to management,
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