Page 2622 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 10 August 2016
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
Mr Wall: Who’s been responsible for that over for the past 15 years? Too little, too late.
MR CORBELL: That is why we are doing exactly what we are doing now, Mr Wall, through you, Madam Speaker. We are increasing the number of beds available by 50 right now–
Mr Wall: Band-aid fix on a terminally ill hospital system.
MR CORBELL: and we are not doing it, Mr Wall—through you, Madam Speaker—at a cost of $400 million for 30 extra beds; that is the Liberal Party’s plan.
MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Mr Hanson.
Mrs Jones interjecting—
MADAM SPEAKER: I would like to hear Mr Hanson, Mrs Jones.
MR HANSON: Minister, why is it then that your hospital is the most inefficient in the country after 15 years of Labor government?
MR CORBELL: My focus as health minister has been on improving efficiency and timeliness in the public health system and during that time we have slashed elective surgery waiting lists. We have slashed them by over 70 per cent.
We have improved access to our emergency department. Emergency department wait times are now much better than they were even six months ago. We are expanding the emergency department by 30 per cent and we are improving bed utilisation so that more people can get a hospital bed when they need it, through smarter efficiencies and work practice in our hospitals. That is what my focus is.
But Mr Hanson has decided, it would appear to me, and the Liberal Party have decided, to walk away from having a more efficient hospital system and, it would seem, just spend hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars for a net gain of 30 beds when we are achieving 50 extra beds through better efficiency and utilisation in our public health system.
MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Ms Burch.
MS BURCH: Minister, you spoke about—
MADAM SPEAKER: Preamble.
MS BURCH: Thank you, Madam Speaker. Can you tell the Assembly more about the efficiencies and the changes within the health system over the past six to 12 months?
MR CORBELL: I thank Ms Burch for her supplementary. There are a broad range of reforms that are driving better efficiencies in our public health system. First of all,
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video