Page 2769 - Week 09 - Thursday, 27 September 2007
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experience of other jurisdictions, particularly in the UK, as well as, as I said, in New South Wales. But I would emphasise that the number of representations that I have received into my office shows that this is a serious issue and it is to be hoped that the government gives appropriate consideration to the recommendations in the report and not quickly dismiss them, as sometimes can happen.
I will not cover all of the same ground that was outlined by Dr Foskey, but I do want to refer to a few of the recommendations. In particular, the committee’s inquiry showed strongly the need for cross-border cooperation with New South Wales. Certainly the recommendation that the territory should have, for example, a five-year arrangement with New South Wales regarding cross-border payments for hospital care, provided they are calculated on an accurate basis, is most important.
I also strongly believe, as the report details, that ACT Health should commission an economic evaluation of the Canberra Hospital’s practice of pursuing privately insured patients from a whole-of-system perspective. This came up in evidence about chasing the gold card market, as it is referred to, because, frankly, of the impact on the bottom line of pursuing those patients. I would hope that those factors are put back into proportion when understanding that the public system is there to serve the needs of all Canberrans and that we should not start tiptoeing through the market to try and find the areas that are most lucrative.
I know that a number of things have been done to try and speed up the waiting lists. Some of them I have a bit of a mixed view about, and I have mentioned them across the chamber on occasions, particularly the decision taken about a year ago when around 50 patients were run through the National Capital Private Hospital to deal with varicose veins operations, with the practitioners involved receiving a substantial premium, as a way of getting the numbers down for these quick operations that could be taken off the system.
Now, good luck to the people who benefited. Good luck also to the doctors who did very well out of the margins on those operations. But I would hope that that was a decision based on the needs of the community and not some attempt to say, “How can we get these numbers down and take off the heat on this issue?” There is a lot of public angst about the waiting lists issue and it does not seem to be going away.
The report also recommends that ACT Health incorporate management of waiting lists and compilation and reporting of waiting list data into induction programs and training, and we hope that this has some benefit. Similarly, ACT Health, to the extent that work is not already taking place, should model elective surgery activity using a capacity planning model to plan for changes in demand and consequent changes in capacity.
Several other recommendations that are of interest include recommendation 4, which recommends that ACT Health explore, in conjunction with the Canberra and Calvary hospitals, the rationalisation of operating theatre lists to a single six and a half hour list with a single shift of staff.
I am unpersuaded that we are managing our operating theatres to the best possible extent. I know there have been some improvements during the course of this inquiry. I
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