Page 4368 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 30 November 1994
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Mr Humphries: It does not matter about hip replacements and varicose veins. They do not matter.
Mrs Grassby: Madam Speaker, I take a point of order again. I would like to hear the answer.
MADAM SPEAKER: Yes, I know, Mrs Grassby. Mr Connolly is - - -
Mr Kaine: Why do you not ask him quietly, instead of going through all this nonsense?
MADAM SPEAKER: Order! Mr Connolly, just proceed. Let us have a moment's silence. Perhaps people will remember what it sounds like. Let us have some order.
MR CONNOLLY: Thank you, Madam Speaker. The level of agitation of the Opposition now and the fact that for an hour they did not want to ask a question about the health quarterly report are more eloquent than anything I can say today. While only 19 per cent of the patients on the waiting lists fall into the urgency category - which says that they should be seen within three months - in fact, 39 per cent of patients on the waiting lists have been waiting for less than three months. So, we are throughputting people at a significantly greater level, and that is quite appropriate for people who have absolutely non-urgent, elective conditions.
Mrs Carnell: Like hip replacements?
MR CONNOLLY: Mrs Carnell, a hip replacement that is urgent, as a result of a fall or a fracture, can be dealt with in a couple of days, and a hip replacement that is purely elective can wait for months. You know that, but you will not be honest with the community.
Mr Berry: On a point of order, Madam Speaker: I draw your attention to standing order 202, which relates to the naming of a member, and I would suggest that Mrs Carnell is sailing a bit close to the wind these days.
MADAM SPEAKER: I will make my own decisions on that standing order, Mr Berry. Let us have a bit of order.
MR CONNOLLY: So, yes, Mrs Grassby; those figures reported in the paper this morning were accurate. On the ABC news late last night, on the national round-up, when Andrew Fraser of the Canberra Times was saying, "Yes, over 80 per cent on the waiting lists are in the non-urgent category", the compere from Sydney said, "The public health waiting lists in the ACT seem to be in pretty good shape then, do they not, compared with other parts of Australia?". So, I thank you for that editorial comment.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .