Page 1948 - Week 07 - Thursday, 23 August 2007
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but which is quoted repeatedly in the media releases put out by the shadow health spokesperson. You cannot find a document that says that as such—and you will not, because there is none.
When you look at the actual performance of the Canberra Hospital in terms of health outcomes, you will see that we rank very highly—not one, but in the top two or three in the country. It is very easy to just talk about timeliness around categories 3 and 4 in the emergency department and, with elective surgery, the wait for access to elective surgery—the two measures. But you pull those together and say that means you have a badly performing hospital. It is not the case.
Nobody stands here and says that the access around those categories is right. I have never stood here and said that it is okay to have those waits. Under my Access health document, which has been ridiculed by the opposition, one of the first priority areas is focusing on timely access to care. One of the key issues around access to elective surgery is beds. As we keep saying in this place, we have invested. We have replaced the 114 cut out by the opposition. We have now built it back up.
Mr Smyth: Are they all acute?
MS GALLAGHER: No, they are not all acute.
Mr Smyth: So therefore you haven’t.
MS GALLAGHER: I have never said that they are all acute.
Mr Smyth: Well, how can you replace acute beds?
MR SPEAKER: Order! Mr Smyth, cease interjecting. Minister, don’t pay any attention to them; just direct your response to the question.
MS GALLAGHER: But replacing the beds in the hospital in order to deal with the demand for elective surgery. As everyone knows, no minister has control over who is added to the waiting list. They are decisions taken by doctors. But what I do have control over is throughput through elective surgery. What we see is that we are delivering record amounts of elective surgery through our public hospital system.
I know that those opposite do not want to listen to this, because this is the true measure, but 9,326—I think, at the last count—elective surgery procedures were delivered last year. That is a 22 per cent increase on our first year in government. We are doing everything that needs to be done to improve access to elective surgery. That does not mean that I have control—
Mr Smyth: So the list just gets longer.
MS GALLAGHER: I do not have control over the waiting list. Mr Smyth, you know that. Doctors have control over the waiting list. They are the ones who put people on the waiting list. I am the one who puts people off the waiting list. What we have done is deliver 1,400 or 1,500 more procedures than you guys were delivering when you were last in government. My job is to concentrate on throughput. To do that, we make
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