Page 1514 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 6 June 2007
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Again, I think the number is too big, but it is a real improvement over the past two years. The April 2007 figure is 26 per cent better than the 1,265 people on the waiting list for times over one year in April 2005 and 17 per cent better than the figure for last year. We will continue to address the long wait patients. That, in addition to the recent and continued investment in access to elective surgery, should see that waiting time come down as we meet the needs of urgent patients and also those who have been waiting too long for surgery.
But there is more to be done. The budget will commission the 10th operating theatre. That means that we will be pretty much working at full capacity. We are having weekend sessions at TCH; Calvary has been doing weekend sessions for some time. This will purchase another 300 procedures.
It is to keep pace—not only to keep pace but to keep increasing throughput every year. This year we expect to reach 9,300 procedures, and next year we are aiming for 9,600. I have no control—in a way I wish Mr Smyth was in the portfolio. While he—
Mrs Burke: I know. I really annoy you, don’t I? I really annoy you. Sorry, Katy. At least I am not wearing the pink jacket today.
MS GALLAGHER: It is just around the understanding of the issue. Whilst he beat me up over waiting lists, he knew that I have no control over waiting lists. If a doctor wants to put someone on the waiting list, that is what they do—and that is what they should do. What I do have control over is throughput. That is where I do have control—to make sure that throughput is increasing all the time. And it is increasing all the time; it is way up. Two to three years ago, we were doing 7,600 operations. We are moving up all the time. That is what I have control over and that is what I can deliver on.
In relation to the emergency department, again I acknowledge that people in categories 3 and 4 are waiting too long to see a doctor. We are attempting to address some of the issues around our staff, but I should say that that was in a year where we saw again a six per cent growth in numbers of presentations and again increased growth particularly for category 3 patients. I do not think that anyone could have predicted that level of growth over a single year.
There are areas where you can continue to highlight things that we need to continue to work on, and I accept that. Health is one of those areas where it is hard work. You do have to remain focused; you do have to have a plan about the future; you do have to work with the stakeholders: the doctors, the nurses, the allied health professionals, the support staff, the managers who run the hospitals and the administrators who provide all that support—who work 365 days a year, 24 hours a day to deliver what I would argue is an enviable health system, one that Canberrans are very proud of.
That is reflected in this report. This report shows that, despite the highest rate of private health cover in the country, we have the highest usage per capita of the public hospital system. That is despite very good access to high-quality private facilities. Here we have a situation where we have fantastic private facilities. We have access to fantastic public facilities. We have a very high private health insurance uptake in the
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