Page 2696 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 6 June 2012
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And there have also been concerns expressed around the level of pressure it places on the system itself. That is not just something I have raised but many health professional groups have raised, particularly in relation to the four-hour measure. It is something we have now, which has come in place with supposed hospital reorganisation measures that have come in place federally. But it is something we remain concerned about. And I think that needs to be acknowledged in this debate.
The Greens are concerned about the reasons why the person in the emergency department decided to change the data and want to see the outcome of those investigations that have been undertaken. On that point, the Greens consistently said publicly that the best place for such an inquiry to be conducted was with the Auditor-General, and this is occurring. Contrary to claims as fact by the Liberals that there will be no inquiry, there is an inquiry occurring through the Auditor-General. In fact, the last I heard—and Mr Hanson seemed to suggest it in his speech today—was that the Liberals actually support this inquiry and the terms of the inquiry that have been put forward by the Auditor-General.
The Auditor-General has significant powers, including the ability to compel witnesses and to apply penalties if witnesses do not appear. And I think that needs to be noted. That was why we said the Auditor-General was the best person to conduct this inquiry, because they are an independent body and will conduct the inquiry in an independent way.
This ongoing conspiracy theory from the Liberals about a secret meeting between Ms Hunter and Ms Gallagher is—
Mr Doszpot: They didn’t deny it.
MS BRESNAN: They actually said what they talked about and it was so secret that they walked out in view of other Assembly members and the public. I think what we are seeing here is Mr Hanson continually coming up with these conspiracy theories because they have got nothing to say about the actual issue, how they would address it, and they have no policy on the matter. So we just hear conspiracy theories continually coming up.
On the issue of elective surgery downgrades, yes, this was an issue the Greens saw as being serious, which is why we supported the Liberals in having the Auditor-General look into the matter, which is an inconvenient fact for them to acknowledge. And we had the Auditor-General look into that matter. The Auditor-General did raise some concerns. They have been listed today. But I think it is also important to point out that, again, we have heard some selective information come from that report.
The audit acknowledged that the management of the waiting lists for elective surgery and medical treatments is a complex process that can be influenced by practices of various parties within the system, including doctors, and by a number of factors, some of which are outside the control of ACT Health. The audit also notes that Canberra’s public hospitals provide emergency and elective surgery to ACT residents and those in the surrounding areas, most emergency surgeries are conducted at TCH and consequently the pressure of delivering emergency surgery has also impacted on the
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