Page 2171 - Week 06 - Thursday, 26 June 2008
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
tomorrow to consider the rest of the budget. Just for the record, I would have been happy to go on for endless hours to get this matter cleaned up tonight—and I understand some other members have the same view—but I gather it is work to rules tonight so that we do not go on too late.
I do not think any of us would dispute that the health system is one of the most important responsibilities of the ACT government, not to mention the significant percentage of the ACT budget that is provided to health. It is vitally important to everyone in the community, from children and adolescents through to young adults, parents and the elderly, that they have confidence in the health system. People need to feel confident that, if they present to the hospital, particularly our public hospitals, for example, for treatment, they will receive timely and quality care. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.
What is even more worrying than the current performance is the fact that the demands on the health system are only going to get heavier and heavier as Canberra’s population gets older. That is a statistical fact of life.
It is not my intention to focus solely on the deficiencies within the health system. There have been some very welcome announcements and initiatives announced in this Appropriation Bill, and I will come to these shortly. I do believe that some of these initiatives are welcomed and will improve the standard of the ACT health system. However, it must be acknowledged that improvements are desperately needed.
There is plenty of anecdotal evidence to back this statement up. I am quite sure that the Minister for Health is becoming rather tired of the large number of concerns that I receive from constituents and pass on to her, although, to her credit, she never complains and has said that she is more than happy to continue to deal with them. I do acknowledge her not inconsiderable efforts to provide detailed answers to me to pass on to my constituents. The volume of this correspondence, however, is testimony to the fact that there is legitimate community concern about the health system and our hospitals in particular. It is not only anecdotal evidence that demonstrates the concerning areas within the health system.
MR SPEAKER: Order, in the gallery! I will have it cleared.
MR MULCAHY: I will go on for 20 minutes if it keeps going.
MR SPEAKER: I sense there are some people in the gallery trying to test me, just to see whether I will carry through with my threat.
MR MULCAHY: You should eject them, Mr Speaker.
One only has to look at the latest figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare released at the end of May this year. As in previous years, the ACT still lags behind the rest of the country in two critical healthcare areas. In relation to elective surgery, the time taken for people at the 50th percentile to receive their surgery is 63 days, compared to the national average. Similarly, just 54 per cent of people presenting to emergency are seen on time in the ACT. Nationally, the average is 70 per cent.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .