02-05-10
BRUMBY FAILS TO FIX A SICK VICTORIAN HOSPITAL SYSTEM WHILE THOUSANDS WAIT
David Davis MP, Shadow Minister for Health, Shadow Minister for Ageing, Shadow Minister Responsible for Scrutiny of Government, Leader of the Liberal Party (Legislative Council)
Victorian Liberal National Coalition Media Release
Thursday 29 April 2010
In 1999 John Brumby promised to fix our health system and to focus on the basics, yet the release of the Your Hospitals report today shows that the Victorian hospital system is in crisis, Shadow Minister for Health David Davis said today.
“John Brumby’s Your Hospitals report shows he has comprehensively failed Victorian patients and our health system,” Mr Davis said.
“Even on John Brumby’s own stripped-down and doubtful figures he has failed on 6 of the 9 of his own benchmarks – a 66 per cent failure rate for a Premier who has failed to fix the Victorian hospital system and failed to pay attention to the basics.
“Hospitals’ elective surgery waiting lists have blown out under John Brumby. He has declared 40,899 patients currently on the list but we know there are non-declared waiting lists such as the one at Western Health, which means the true extent of the number of patients waiting for surgery is far greater than reported.
Statistics for July to December 2009 show that Victorian hospitals have failed to meet 6 out of nine benchmarks under John Brumby.
• More than 137,000 patients were not admitted to a bed within eight hours or were not discharged within four hours from emergency departments – an increase of 10,000 patients on the previous year;
• More than 69,000 patients (category one, two or three) did not receive emergency department care within the clinically appropriate timeframe – an increase of 57,000 patients on the previous year; and
• 10,600 patients waited too long for elective surgery on official lists.
“John Brumby’s hospitals have failed to treat the most urgent surgical cases within the required time,” Mr Davis said.
“Patients classified as urgent – Category 1 – do not deserve to wait in pain and discomfort or have their health potentially compromised by a failure to obtain treatment in the clinically prescribed time.
“It is disgraceful that John Brumby continues to allow Victorian patients to languish on waiting lists, while he drops into hospitals for photo opportunities and self-promotion.
“It’s no wonder our hospitals are performing so poorly when we have the lowest number of beds
per population than any other state or territory.
The hospitals that failed the 30 day urgent surgery benchmark are the Royal Women’s, Royal Melbourne, St Vincent’s Hospital, and Ballarat and Barwon Health.
“What is most concerning is what the Brumby Government has chosen to leave out of Your Hospitals,” Mr Davis said.
“John Brumby has not publicly reported the 24 hour waits and the number of times the Hospital Early Warning System (HEWS) ambulance diversions were put in place – information which can only be obtained through Freedom of Information.
“He has also failed to declare massive outpatient waiting lists.
“That is why the Coalition is committed to greater transparency and will release a much more complete set of data including an emergency department website accessible in real time.
“John Brumby should hang his head in shame for his mismanagement of the Victorian hospital system,” Mr Davis said.
Media: David Davis 9888 6244 or 0419 000 212
Victorian Liberal Nationals Coalition Policy -
HOSPITAL EMERGENCY DATA TO BE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE IN BAILLIEU GOVT OVERHAUL
http://www.tedbaillieu.com.au/files/releases/100418_001.pdf
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