Page 2377 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 29 August 2007
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do not know. But they seem to come in in such substantial numbers that it has to leave me with a very clear impression that all is not well in the hospital system.
Mr Hargreaves: And you are going to do what about it?
MR MULCAHY: The Liberal Party will do a deal better about it. Our objective will be to improve management of the health system. I am not saying that overnight there will be a zero waiting list, because that is not an efficient way to run a hospital system. But I do believe that some of the things that emerged that reflect badly on management need to be addressed, and the confidence of the community needs to be restored.
We have an ageing population. When I go doorknocking in my area around Mawson and the like, I run into a lot of people who are my age or 10 or 15 years older. They say to me that they are pretty fit now but they are worried that, if they have to rely on the public system, they may be in trouble. They are nervous and they are apprehensive. The level of confidence in the public mind in relation to the health system is lacking; it is the challenge for this territory government to restore that.
The government shrugs off unflattering figures such as those that my colleagues and I have cited and says that they are not comparing apples with apples. I contend that these figures do compare apples and apples but that the government just does not like that particular variety of apples. Even the minister’s own unsourced claim during estimates that 70 per cent of people receive treatment on time was by way of justification for work done rather than acknowledgement that, comparatively, waits in the ACT are longer than elsewhere.
Just as distressing as the elective surgery waits is the fact that in 2005-06 only one in two patients received timely treatment in the ACT emergency departments. Most patients received medical attention within 167 minutes at ACT emergency departments, about an hour longer than Victorians, for example, have to wait.
Clearly things are not running as they should. The system is not operating to the efficient and quality standard that the people of Canberra expect. The government’s answer to throw more money into it is simply not working. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Canberra’s public hospitals are costing at least $61 million more than they should. Clearly the current ACT government—indeed, the minister—is unable to provide the direction needed to ensure that spending equals results.
We have already seen revealed in estimates this year that the savings expected to be realised because of the creation of the Shared Services Centre are probably not going to materialise to the extent predicted. It was admitted during hearings that not as many people had been transferred to shared services as expected; indeed, budget paper No 4 shows an adjustment of $600,000 for the 2007-08 financial year to reflect savings not realised. Over the next four years this adjustment is forecast to be $2.4 million. It is to be hoped that it does not continue to grow beyond this point, but I fear it might. This has long been the danger with the government’s reliance on savings made in the Shared Services Centre. In key areas like health, a standard of service is required that cannot be compromised. It could lead to cost blow-outs across government if the shared services become unable to provide the service required.
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