Page 3281 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 13 November 2007
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savings of time in hospitals, savings of money in the health system, and savings of the lives and lifestyles of ACT residents.
I do not cite these statistics merely as a curiosity, Mr Speaker, but, rather, each of these figures points to serious management problems within ACT public hospitals. The high costs and low performance are ultimately the product of a failure by this government and by the Minister for Health to ensure proper management practices in ACT public hospitals. Winning the gold prize for the worst performance in a range of categories is nothing of which to be proud. The responsibility for cost overruns and blow-outs in waiting times fall to management to rectify, with the ultimate responsibility having to be borne by the minister.
I do not mean to rely on anecdotes in discussing problems that have such a wide birth, but it is, nonetheless, important to also look at individual cases as well as general trends in evaluating the management problems in ACT hospitals. In discussing management problems, one cannot help but immediately think of Dr Gerald McLaren, who I have cited previously in the Assembly, a man whose career and life were destroyed as a consequence of having the courage to draw management’s attention to serious risks within the Canberra Hospital.
It is astounding that Dr McLaren’s concerns over patient safety and the serious concerns he raised over surgical procedures by another doctor took years to be acted upon. It is also a sad testimony to the management of the hospital that Dr McLaren was alienated and essentially forced out of his job as a result of these events. Although I understand that changes have now occurred in response to his concerns, this incident is, unfortunately, indicative of a system where management is unable to deliver effective services for a reasonable cost.
Mr Speaker, overall, the information we have on ACT public hospitals shows severe efficiency problems and areas where we should be aiming for and achieving substantial improvement. The Minister for Health has been unable to improve the ACT public hospital system, and, indeed, on ABC radio this morning the order of the day was passing the buck to the commonwealth on the problems in the ACT health system. The minister was discussing the low number of general practitioners in the ACT—which is lower than other areas in the country—and she complained that she has written to the commonwealth several times. But as callers called up to complain about the management of the ACT public health system, she dismissed their complaints this morning and reiterated that it was the commonwealth’s fault, not hers. She was passing the buck and not taking the responsibility that you are expected to accept when you are drawing $200,000 as a minister of this territory.
Mr Speaker, in conclusion, I have more I would like to say but time is going to beat me. There are issues in the management. I had constituents raise issues with me as recently as Saturday, which I will pursue on another occasion, over the apparent poor performance of shared services in relation to appointments within the ACT Health bureaucracy, the problems this created for management in our health system, conflicting decisions in relation to the application of the PBI tax concessional arrangement—a major factor in people joining the ACT Health—and appalling examples about appointments. As I said, I will raise those on another occasion.
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