Page 2954 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 16 October 2007
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When I saw that release earlier today, I went to the trouble of seeking advice from a firm in Melbourne, Consulting and Implementation Services, who specialise in customer survey satisfaction ratings. And the message came back that certainly it would be interesting to look at the data and see what the actual scores were they got, how many had a bad experience and in practice what a bad experience means. My consultant here says, “Did someone die?” He is not aware of what has happened here in the ACT most recently. But I hope the minister will table that report if he is so confident, rather than presenting us a sanitised version for the media because in the health field, as the consultant has advised me, Mr Spinks says:
In the health field you really cannot afford low service levels. Also things like who did they ask and what did they ask them? Respondents may be happy on a question like “Were the people nice?” but were never asked how happy they were with the wait times. How big was the sample? And what sort of people were surveyed, and was it a broad cross-section of users?
(Time expired.)
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Acting Minister for Health and Acting Minister for Disability, Housing and Community Services) (4.17): I am pleased to be in a position to contribute to this discussion on a matter of public importance. Indeed, it is a very important issue. The provision of quality health care is a matter of interest to all Canberrans, and the ACT Labor government has taken a strong interest in and proactive approach to providing better quality health services to the people of Canberra.
There are a few issues that need to be addressed up front. Recently, the opposition claimed that the last Labor government closed no less than 200 beds during their time in government, and the quote on which that claim is based is actually a quote from Mrs Carnell in Hansard of 23 March 1999. Unfortunately for the opposition, this claim is wrong. There is no evidence that 200 beds were closed. Figures published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show that there were nowhere near that number of bed reductions. So what is the source of these claims, and who do we believe—Kate Carnell or the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare? Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, I know who I will believe.
The same press release from the shadow minister indicated that the Carnell government actually increased the number of beds left in the system by the preceding Labor government. Again, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare figures show this is wrong. The data shows that between 1996-97 and 2000-01, the Carnell government reduced the number of beds by 100. In fact, if you count the difference in the following year, 2001-02, when we inherited the Liberal’s bed base, the cut is actually 114. Anyway, that is enough history.
Mrs Burke: What are you doing now?
MR CORBELL: What are we doing now? Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, we are putting beds back into the hospitals—the right sort of beds, the beds that our community needs. We funded an additional 147 beds and, over the coming years, we
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