Page 173 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 14 February 2018
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Ms Cheyne’s motion refers to timeliness in emergency care. Yet our performance in emergency department waiting times is still amongst the worst in the nation, with our performance in urgent and semi-urgent cases well below the national average for 2016-17. That is when we have the data. We did not have the data for that for the previous year. We have now been advised that Canberra Hospital has been on alert level 3 continuously through the July quarter last year, so performance on waiting times in emergency departments will have gotten worse. But those things are not being reported currently, because the minister does not have the data.
Our performance on elective surgery was the worst in the nation for 2016-17. Evidence suggests that the problems have gotten worse since then, with stories of patients waiting for long periods of time for elective surgery. The government has decided to spend $6.3 million to provide additional surgery for patients in the remainder of the financial year but it has not told us how it will appropriate that money. This is good news for those patients who will receive surgery but it will not address the problem of patients on the hidden waiting list.
I refer to the comments by Dr Steve Robson, the head of the Australian Medical Association ACT branch, reported on 23 December in the Canberra Times. He says:
“It was a shock to read it’s in the position it’s in, but we’re all keen to help” …
“What has to happen is that the health department needs to look very carefully on efficient use of the theatres” …
“It’s possible to do a lot more operating in the same time period at a private hospital.
“Generally there are the same surgeons in the private system, but there are greater efficiencies in the system” …
“We need the capacity to not only do the operation but to care post operatively” …
The government’s measures do not tackle the problems identified by Dr Robson and do not address the problem that our operating theatres lie dormant for many hours every day. Even if they did up the number of operating hours, they do not have the beds or capacity to provide postoperative care. This government is in a whole measure of pain in relation to elective surgery waiting lists, a thing which under their tutelage has gone from the best in the country to the worst in the country.
Ms Cheyne’s motion calls on the government to open the Ngunnawal Bush Healing Farm. Where has Ms Cheyne been? Where was she? Did she not get an invitation to the opening of the Ngunnawal Bush Healing Farm either? The Ngunnawal Bush Healing Farm was opened last year. But it does not provide any detoxification or rehabilitation beds to the community as was promised 10 years ago by Jon Stanhope. Yesterday the minister advised us that a non-residential training course was held at Ngunnawal Bush Healing Farm between 14 November and 14 December and that we will see another one hopefully in April. By the time we get to the April program, the system will have been operating for about 200 days and it will have been operating effectively for 20 of those 200 days.
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