Page 4396 - Week 15 - Wednesday, 21 November 1990
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MR DUBY: I thank Mr Connolly for the questions. Unfortunately for Mr Connolly, they are misdirected. I am not responsible for the issuing of any leases for facilities at Tuggeranong whatsoever. Perhaps he should address them to the appropriate Minister.
Hospitals - Waiting Lists
MS MAHER: My question is to the Minister for Health. With regard to comments made by the Labor Party in relation to the waiting lists at the hospitals, can the Minister inform the Assembly how the Government plans to minimise the impact of the public hospital redevelopment on the waiting lists in Canberra's public hospitals?
MR HUMPHRIES: I thank Ms Maher for the question, because it does raise a very important point about waiting lists. I know that Mr Berry is sensitive on this issue because he knows that the facts do not always flow in his favour; nonetheless I think it is worth highlighting what they are. The waiting lists for elective surgery at both campuses of Royal Canberra Hospital have generally been declining over recent years. However, there have been some specialty areas that have had historically long waiting lists, and sometimes those waiting lists have increased in recent years.
The Labor Party has sought to undermine public confidence in the hospital system by characterising an increase in numbers on the public hospital booking lists over the last three months as a blow-out. When released, I think Mr Berry even called it an explosion in waiting time. The present figure of about 1,400 on the waiting list is actually 400, not 500 as Mr Berry has claimed, greater than an all-time low of about 1,000. However, as no doubt Mr Berry has deliberately avoided saying, the present figure is well below the figure of 2,112 in June 1986.
The Government is determined to ensure that Canberra continues to have amongst the lowest waiting lists in the nation. I will repeat that because those opposite were chattering. The fact is that Canberra has amongst the lowest waiting lists in the nation. I appreciate that it is inevitable that the public hospitals redevelopment will lead to fluctuations in services which could evidence themselves as an increase in the booking lists. Some dislocation is an inevitable by-product of establishing a principal hospital and the other enhancements of the public hospital system that we propose.
We are determined to minimise dislocation, and to this end we have established a hospital booking services liaison committee. The committee's focus will be to monitor the status of booking lists, make recommendations to minimise booking lists and advise the board of any concerns to
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