Page 1078 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 30 March 2011
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As to access block, there are some mixed results. There are some good results. There are some bad results. We are still not meeting targets, but there have been a couple of improvements overall. I acknowledge those. I welcome those. But for mental health patients access block has worsened dramatically, from 19.2 per cent to 33.8 per cent. That is a 14.6 per cent deterioration; it is almost a doubling of the time that mental health patients are waiting, and it is twice the target of 15 per cent.
The minister is saying that the walk-in centres are a great success. But I question by what measure she is assessing that; I would be interested to hear in her speech if she moves on from just the detail that is provided in her press release, because a big part of the rationale for them was to take the pressure off the emergency departments. But what we see in fact is increased pressure on emergency departments. More than ever people are going there and 6,000 people are not even bothering to wait. So how is she boasting in the context of this report that the nurse-led walk-in clinics are a success? I note that she is saying that before the evaluation is even reported, unless she has got a copy of that and I do not.
Elective endoscopies are another area where we have seen mixed results. Category 1 patients are waiting 11 days less and category 2 are waiting eight days less, but category 3 patients are waiting 162 days longer. So, if you are waiting for an endoscopy, you are waiting 162 days longer if you are in category 3 than in this period last year.
Breast screens are another area of concern. The proportion of women who wait 28 days or less from their appointment to the date of the breast screen has improved 40 per cent last year, but it is down 62 per cent, I note, from 2007-08, and the number of women who receive an assessment within 28 days is also down 11 per cent this year.
Radiotherapy is another area of improvement, and again I welcome that. The percentage of patients treated within required time frames has gone up, and I do welcome that. But let us just remember what a low base we are coming off, with patients like Vesna Nedic, and you will recall that.
Ms Gallagher: For God’s sake!
MR HANSON: The minister says, “For God’s sake.” I am welcoming it. If you listen to what I said, I am acknowledging in my speech that it is a good result. I acknowledge it. I welcome it. The point I am making is to recall a couple of years ago when we did have some appalling results there.
Dental waiting times are going well and patients are being seen on time generally across the board, and I welcome that. Aged care and rehabilitation services are a mixed bag. I am concerned that the length of stay is increasing by nearly 10 days, but it does seem that that is due to the complexity of cases and I would be interested to find out more about that. Patients, on the other hand, are waiting slightly longer for aged-care assessment team assessments but there is a slight improvement in the rate of discharge plans.
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