Page 2333 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 23 June 2010
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
The statistics in the Australian hospital statistics report 2008-09 that were released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare on 17 June actually provide a comprehensive assessment of not only where we sit with our elective surgery lists but also how they have declined in recent times. Elective surgery lists are not the only problem that we have and they are not the only problem reported on in that report.
We are all aware of the problems that we have with GPs, with the number of public hospital beds we have, with emergency departments and so on. But I think many hundreds of Canberrans who have been reading the papers lately are aware of the problems of people like Allan McFarlane and David Wentworth who have been waiting an inordinate amount of time for their elective surgery. They will be questioning what is going on.
My motion notes that the report shows that since the previous report was released last year, the median waiting time for elective surgery in the ACT has worsened from 72 days to 75 days. So things are declining. Things are getting worse, and that is 31 days longer than the national average waiting time of 34 days. It is not only the worst but it is getting worse. It refutes the government’s assertions that they are working on these lists and making them better.
My motion notes also that since the previous report the length of time that the majority of people have been waiting for elective surgery—it is at the 90th percentile, Mr Speaker—has worsened from 372 days to 378 days, which is 158 days longer than the national average of 220 days. It is not just the median wait list. The government needs to explain and the minister needs to explain why it is that the majority of people are now waiting such a long time—158 days longer than the national average.
If you compare it with Western Australia, the only Liberal state, it is 174 compared with the ACT figure of 378. That is 204 days longer that the majority of people are waiting for elective surgery here in the ACT compared to WA. It is not quite as long as Katy Gallagher takes off for leave each year but it is a significant period of time.
The report also notes that since the previous report was released in 2009 the percentage of people who have been waiting for more than a year for their elective surgery has worsened from 10.3 per cent to 10.6 per cent. This is more than three times the national average of 2.9 per cent. The government’s excuse—that they have the worst median wait list in the country because they are focusing on the longer wait patients—is utterly refuted by the fact that we not only have the greatest percentage of patients waiting over a year but also that that percentage has actually increased since this time last year.
I have used a comparison with WA before, which is two per cent. New South Wales is 2.5 per cent. If people think that WA is bad, and I think most people think that New South Wales is appalling, you should note that it is a four times greater percentage here in the ACT than it is in New South Wales.
Elective surgery waiting lists can cause some confusion but let us make it very clear what they are. Category 1, urgent, should be done within 30 days. Category 2,
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video