Page 1968 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 5 August 2014
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MS GALLAGHER: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. These are difficult issues, I think, when you look at them in terms of how individual units run within the hospital. There is an administration point of view, but there is also how clinicians seek to operate and want to operate. Over time, I think that at the Canberra Hospital in particular we are building up the capacity to improve our systems all the time.
It comes down to a range of different issues. Some of them are to do with how the administration and management side of the hospital interacts with particular clinical units. The outpatients area is undergoing very significant change, and indeed has undergone a lot of increased demand for its services. But I think the recommendations of the Auditor-General align with the work that management was doing at the hospital to improve particularly the waiting list and how appointments were managed, and some of those management decisions within the unit.
MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Mr Hanson.
MR HANSON: Minister, why is it that “patients of GEHU have not been receiving treatment within the time frames recommended by the Health Directorate” or that access to consultants does not occur “according to a patient’s medical need”?
MS GALLAGHER: In terms of timeliness of people regarding access to appointments and treatment, it is really to do with the workload and the demand for services. Could you repeat the second part of your question, Mr Hanson?
MR HANSON: The question, which is a quote from the report, was about access to consultants not occurring “according to a patient’s medical need”—so patients’ medical need is not being met.
MS GALLAGHER: What the audit found overall—and there was independent expert advice commissioned as part of it—was that the triage category was appropriate in the vast amount of cases, and that, for those cases where outcomes could be assessed, the patients were managed appropriately and in a timely manner.
Whilst the audit did acknowledge that there was scope for improvement within the unit, I think that overall finding, as part of the audit report, is important. Again, right across the outpatients unit and in particular regarding the demand for outpatient services, we are undergoing some quite significant change, and that is to deal with the level of demand for outpatient services and the triaging of those patient needs right across the hospital and not just in the gastroenterology and hepatology unit at the Canberra Hospital.
MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Ms Lawder.
MS LAWDER: Minister, what changes will you make to ensure the GEHU is used efficiently to provide tertiary healthcare?
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