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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 12 Hansard (18 November) . . Page.. 4218 ..

MR SMYTH (continuing):

the previous Liberal government ended years of non-accountability for hospital results by putting in place a system that reported monthly to this place what the level of activity was and what the waiting list times were.

The current government attempted to strangle this. Mr Stanhope came to office saying, "We'll be more accountable, we'll be more honest, we'll be more open. But we're not going to table the report; we're going to hide it in the library. If the public want it, they can come to the ACT Assembly library"-which I suspect most people do not know exists.

I thank members who supported the motion that brought this minister to heel, because it was only the intervention of the Assembly that maintained the requirement on this health minister to table monthly reports. And, while we are at it, we might look at the four missing reports where there is no data-four months without real data. Perhaps the minister might table those by the end of this debate.

When we add up these monthly reports, we see that the level of surgery throughput is 8 per cent lower under this government than it was at the end of the previous government. No wonder they wanted to bring to an end monthly accountability and reporting! I, too, would be embarrassed if I were you, Mr Corbell. I seek leave to table a chart that details this. It shows the number of patients treated at the two public hospitals over the last 36 months.

Leave granted.

MR SMYTH: This chart clearly shows that the results are worse under the government. From October 2000 to September 2001 an average of 700 patients a month were treated. Since October 2001 the average has been 643. In other words, 8 per cent fewer patients get surgery under this government. The cause was a string of bad results starting in 2002 with the Calvary debacle.

Is the minister willing to stand up in this place and say, "Yes, surgery throughput has fallen under this government"? Is he willing to take responsibility for what his government has done, or is he only responsible for the budget, not for the targets? Long waits for surgery have got longer under this government. This government has lost control of the number of people who have been allowed to become overdue for elective surgery.

We all know that Australian hospitals are failing to see patients on time, but in Canberra under this government there is quite clearly an enormous blow-out of those waiting times. I seek leave to table a document showing the waiting list data, including the important data on overdue patients.

Leave granted.

MR SMYTH: The table shows a progressive climb in the total number of people waiting for surgery under Minister Corbell. In late 2001, under the previous government, it was as low as 3,488 people. Based on the data released this week, it is now 4,314. Less service, slower service and more expensive service is Labor's idea of a good health system.

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