❓ Dr. Hames questions the impact of $15.4 million in federal funding for elective surgery, as waiting lists have increased. Mr. McGinty acknowledges implementation delays but anticipates future improvements.
AnsweredQoN 208Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
ELECTIVE SURGERY — FEDERAL GOVERNMENT “BLITZ” FUNDING
I refer to the minister’s 14 January 2008 media release that announced that Western Australia would receive an extra $15.4 million from the federal government for a so-called “blitz” on elective surgery. As the waiting lists for each of the first three months of 2008 show that there are more people waiting for surgery than in December 2007, I ask — (1) Has the state government received the $15.4 million from the federal government? (2) If so, why is the additional funding not having an impact on the waiting list? (3) If no to (1), why has the government not received this funding? Mr J.A. McGINTY
I refer to the minister’s 14 January 2008 media release that announced that Western Australia would receive an extra $15.4 million from the federal government for a so-called “blitz” on elective surgery. As the waiting lists for each of the first three months of 2008 show that there are more people waiting for surgery than in December 2007, I ask — (1) Has the state government received the $15.4 million from the federal government? (2) If so, why is the additional funding not having an impact on the waiting list? (3) If no to (1), why has the government not received this funding? Mr J.A. McGINTY
AnswerView source ↗
(1)-(3) I am not sure whether the money has been received; it has certainly been factored into the money we intend to spend on offering elective surgery to Western Australians, particularly targeting people who have waited longer than clinically desirable. Whether or not the money has been received makes no difference to the plans to spend that money during the course of this year and to offer surgery to the individuals concerned. There are obviously implementation delays in achieving an outcome to some of these issues. In recent weeks the number of people on the elective surgery waiting list has come down, which I presume is at least in part attributable to the commitment to spend the extra money that has come from the federal government in order to reduce the elective surgery — Dr K.D. Hames interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY : Mr Speaker, this is at least in part attributable to the fact that the allocation of this money to offer people elective surgery is starting to take effect. We would all, obviously, like the moneys that are allocated to have an immediate impact. Sometimes, particularly in health services, that is simply not possible, due to the need to allocate additional space to particular surgeons on elective surgery rosters and matters of that nature. I hoped that it would have happened more quickly. Hopefully, we will now see the full effect of the additional allocation to elective surgery take effect. Dr K.D. HAMES : I have a supplementary question. The SPEAKER : Question time has now finished.
(1) Has the state government received the $15.4 million from the federal government? (2) If so, why is the additional funding not having an impact on the waiting list? (3) If no to (1), why has the government not received this funding? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(3) I am not sure whether the money has been received; it has certainly been factored into the money we intend to spend on offering elective surgery to Western Australians, particularly targeting people who have waited longer than clinically desirable. Whether or not the money has been received makes no difference to the plans to spend that money during the course of this year and to offer surgery to the individuals concerned. There are obviously implementation delays in achieving an outcome to some of these issues. In recent weeks the number of people on the elective surgery waiting list has come down, which I presume is at least in part attributable to the commitment to spend the extra money that has come from the federal government in order to reduce the elective surgery — Dr K.D. Hames interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY : Mr Speaker, this is at least in part attributable to the fact that the allocation of this money to offer people elective surgery is starting to take effect. We would all, obviously, like the moneys that are allocated to have an immediate impact. Sometimes, particularly in health services, that is simply not possible, due to the need to allocate additional space to particular surgeons on elective surgery rosters and matters of that nature. I hoped that it would have happened more quickly. Hopefully, we will now see the full effect of the additional allocation to elective surgery take effect. Dr K.D. HAMES : I have a supplementary question. The SPEAKER : Question time has now finished.
(2) If so, why is the additional funding not having an impact on the waiting list? (3) If no to (1), why has the government not received this funding? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(3) I am not sure whether the money has been received; it has certainly been factored into the money we intend to spend on offering elective surgery to Western Australians, particularly targeting people who have waited longer than clinically desirable. Whether or not the money has been received makes no difference to the plans to spend that money during the course of this year and to offer surgery to the individuals concerned. There are obviously implementation delays in achieving an outcome to some of these issues. In recent weeks the number of people on the elective surgery waiting list has come down, which I presume is at least in part attributable to the commitment to spend the extra money that has come from the federal government in order to reduce the elective surgery — Dr K.D. Hames interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY : Mr Speaker, this is at least in part attributable to the fact that the allocation of this money to offer people elective surgery is starting to take effect. We would all, obviously, like the moneys that are allocated to have an immediate impact. Sometimes, particularly in health services, that is simply not possible, due to the need to allocate additional space to particular surgeons on elective surgery rosters and matters of that nature. I hoped that it would have happened more quickly. Hopefully, we will now see the full effect of the additional allocation to elective surgery take effect. Dr K.D. HAMES : I have a supplementary question. The SPEAKER : Question time has now finished.
(3) If no to (1), why has the government not received this funding? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(3) I am not sure whether the money has been received; it has certainly been factored into the money we intend to spend on offering elective surgery to Western Australians, particularly targeting people who have waited longer than clinically desirable. Whether or not the money has been received makes no difference to the plans to spend that money during the course of this year and to offer surgery to the individuals concerned. There are obviously implementation delays in achieving an outcome to some of these issues. In recent weeks the number of people on the elective surgery waiting list has come down, which I presume is at least in part attributable to the commitment to spend the extra money that has come from the federal government in order to reduce the elective surgery — Dr K.D. Hames interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY : Mr Speaker, this is at least in part attributable to the fact that the allocation of this money to offer people elective surgery is starting to take effect. We would all, obviously, like the moneys that are allocated to have an immediate impact. Sometimes, particularly in health services, that is simply not possible, due to the need to allocate additional space to particular surgeons on elective surgery rosters and matters of that nature. I hoped that it would have happened more quickly. Hopefully, we will now see the full effect of the additional allocation to elective surgery take effect. Dr K.D. HAMES : I have a supplementary question. The SPEAKER : Question time has now finished.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(3) I am not sure whether the money has been received; it has certainly been factored into the money we intend to spend on offering elective surgery to Western Australians, particularly targeting people who have waited longer than clinically desirable. Whether or not the money has been received makes no difference to the plans to spend that money during the course of this year and to offer surgery to the individuals concerned. There are obviously implementation delays in achieving an outcome to some of these issues. In recent weeks the number of people on the elective surgery waiting list has come down, which I presume is at least in part attributable to the commitment to spend the extra money that has come from the federal government in order to reduce the elective surgery — Dr K.D. Hames interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY : Mr Speaker, this is at least in part attributable to the fact that the allocation of this money to offer people elective surgery is starting to take effect. We would all, obviously, like the moneys that are allocated to have an immediate impact. Sometimes, particularly in health services, that is simply not possible, due to the need to allocate additional space to particular surgeons on elective surgery rosters and matters of that nature. I hoped that it would have happened more quickly. Hopefully, we will now see the full effect of the additional allocation to elective surgery take effect. Dr K.D. HAMES : I have a supplementary question. The SPEAKER : Question time has now finished.
(1)-(3) I am not sure whether the money has been received; it has certainly been factored into the money we intend to spend on offering elective surgery to Western Australians, particularly targeting people who have waited longer than clinically desirable. Whether or not the money has been received makes no difference to the plans to spend that money during the course of this year and to offer surgery to the individuals concerned. There are obviously implementation delays in achieving an outcome to some of these issues. In recent weeks the number of people on the elective surgery waiting list has come down, which I presume is at least in part attributable to the commitment to spend the extra money that has come from the federal government in order to reduce the elective surgery — Dr K.D. Hames interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY : Mr Speaker, this is at least in part attributable to the fact that the allocation of this money to offer people elective surgery is starting to take effect. We would all, obviously, like the moneys that are allocated to have an immediate impact. Sometimes, particularly in health services, that is simply not possible, due to the need to allocate additional space to particular surgeons on elective surgery rosters and matters of that nature. I hoped that it would have happened more quickly. Hopefully, we will now see the full effect of the additional allocation to elective surgery take effect. Dr K.D. HAMES : I have a supplementary question. The SPEAKER : Question time has now finished.
Dr K.D. Hames interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY : Mr Speaker, this is at least in part attributable to the fact that the allocation of this money to offer people elective surgery is starting to take effect. We would all, obviously, like the moneys that are allocated to have an immediate impact. Sometimes, particularly in health services, that is simply not possible, due to the need to allocate additional space to particular surgeons on elective surgery rosters and matters of that nature. I hoped that it would have happened more quickly. Hopefully, we will now see the full effect of the additional allocation to elective surgery take effect. Dr K.D. HAMES : I have a supplementary question. The SPEAKER : Question time has now finished.
Mr J.A. McGINTY : Mr Speaker, this is at least in part attributable to the fact that the allocation of this money to offer people elective surgery is starting to take effect. We would all, obviously, like the moneys that are allocated to have an immediate impact. Sometimes, particularly in health services, that is simply not possible, due to the need to allocate additional space to particular surgeons on elective surgery rosters and matters of that nature. I hoped that it would have happened more quickly. Hopefully, we will now see the full effect of the additional allocation to elective surgery take effect. Dr K.D. HAMES : I have a supplementary question. The SPEAKER : Question time has now finished.
Dr K.D. HAMES : I have a supplementary question. The SPEAKER : Question time has now finished.
The SPEAKER : Question time has now finished.
(1) Has the state government received the $15.4 million from the federal government? (2) If so, why is the additional funding not having an impact on the waiting list? (3) If no to (1), why has the government not received this funding? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(3) I am not sure whether the money has been received; it has certainly been factored into the money we intend to spend on offering elective surgery to Western Australians, particularly targeting people who have waited longer than clinically desirable. Whether or not the money has been received makes no difference to the plans to spend that money during the course of this year and to offer surgery to the individuals concerned. There are obviously implementation delays in achieving an outcome to some of these issues. In recent weeks the number of people on the elective surgery waiting list has come down, which I presume is at least in part attributable to the commitment to spend the extra money that has come from the federal government in order to reduce the elective surgery — Dr K.D. Hames interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY : Mr Speaker, this is at least in part attributable to the fact that the allocation of this money to offer people elective surgery is starting to take effect. We would all, obviously, like the moneys that are allocated to have an immediate impact. Sometimes, particularly in health services, that is simply not possible, due to the need to allocate additional space to particular surgeons on elective surgery rosters and matters of that nature. I hoped that it would have happened more quickly. Hopefully, we will now see the full effect of the additional allocation to elective surgery take effect. Dr K.D. HAMES : I have a supplementary question. The SPEAKER : Question time has now finished.
(2) If so, why is the additional funding not having an impact on the waiting list? (3) If no to (1), why has the government not received this funding? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(3) I am not sure whether the money has been received; it has certainly been factored into the money we intend to spend on offering elective surgery to Western Australians, particularly targeting people who have waited longer than clinically desirable. Whether or not the money has been received makes no difference to the plans to spend that money during the course of this year and to offer surgery to the individuals concerned. There are obviously implementation delays in achieving an outcome to some of these issues. In recent weeks the number of people on the elective surgery waiting list has come down, which I presume is at least in part attributable to the commitment to spend the extra money that has come from the federal government in order to reduce the elective surgery — Dr K.D. Hames interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY : Mr Speaker, this is at least in part attributable to the fact that the allocation of this money to offer people elective surgery is starting to take effect. We would all, obviously, like the moneys that are allocated to have an immediate impact. Sometimes, particularly in health services, that is simply not possible, due to the need to allocate additional space to particular surgeons on elective surgery rosters and matters of that nature. I hoped that it would have happened more quickly. Hopefully, we will now see the full effect of the additional allocation to elective surgery take effect. Dr K.D. HAMES : I have a supplementary question. The SPEAKER : Question time has now finished.
(3) If no to (1), why has the government not received this funding? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(3) I am not sure whether the money has been received; it has certainly been factored into the money we intend to spend on offering elective surgery to Western Australians, particularly targeting people who have waited longer than clinically desirable. Whether or not the money has been received makes no difference to the plans to spend that money during the course of this year and to offer surgery to the individuals concerned. There are obviously implementation delays in achieving an outcome to some of these issues. In recent weeks the number of people on the elective surgery waiting list has come down, which I presume is at least in part attributable to the commitment to spend the extra money that has come from the federal government in order to reduce the elective surgery — Dr K.D. Hames interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY : Mr Speaker, this is at least in part attributable to the fact that the allocation of this money to offer people elective surgery is starting to take effect. We would all, obviously, like the moneys that are allocated to have an immediate impact. Sometimes, particularly in health services, that is simply not possible, due to the need to allocate additional space to particular surgeons on elective surgery rosters and matters of that nature. I hoped that it would have happened more quickly. Hopefully, we will now see the full effect of the additional allocation to elective surgery take effect. Dr K.D. HAMES : I have a supplementary question. The SPEAKER : Question time has now finished.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(3) I am not sure whether the money has been received; it has certainly been factored into the money we intend to spend on offering elective surgery to Western Australians, particularly targeting people who have waited longer than clinically desirable. Whether or not the money has been received makes no difference to the plans to spend that money during the course of this year and to offer surgery to the individuals concerned. There are obviously implementation delays in achieving an outcome to some of these issues. In recent weeks the number of people on the elective surgery waiting list has come down, which I presume is at least in part attributable to the commitment to spend the extra money that has come from the federal government in order to reduce the elective surgery — Dr K.D. Hames interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY : Mr Speaker, this is at least in part attributable to the fact that the allocation of this money to offer people elective surgery is starting to take effect. We would all, obviously, like the moneys that are allocated to have an immediate impact. Sometimes, particularly in health services, that is simply not possible, due to the need to allocate additional space to particular surgeons on elective surgery rosters and matters of that nature. I hoped that it would have happened more quickly. Hopefully, we will now see the full effect of the additional allocation to elective surgery take effect. Dr K.D. HAMES : I have a supplementary question. The SPEAKER : Question time has now finished.
(1)-(3) I am not sure whether the money has been received; it has certainly been factored into the money we intend to spend on offering elective surgery to Western Australians, particularly targeting people who have waited longer than clinically desirable. Whether or not the money has been received makes no difference to the plans to spend that money during the course of this year and to offer surgery to the individuals concerned. There are obviously implementation delays in achieving an outcome to some of these issues. In recent weeks the number of people on the elective surgery waiting list has come down, which I presume is at least in part attributable to the commitment to spend the extra money that has come from the federal government in order to reduce the elective surgery — Dr K.D. Hames interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY : Mr Speaker, this is at least in part attributable to the fact that the allocation of this money to offer people elective surgery is starting to take effect. We would all, obviously, like the moneys that are allocated to have an immediate impact. Sometimes, particularly in health services, that is simply not possible, due to the need to allocate additional space to particular surgeons on elective surgery rosters and matters of that nature. I hoped that it would have happened more quickly. Hopefully, we will now see the full effect of the additional allocation to elective surgery take effect. Dr K.D. HAMES : I have a supplementary question. The SPEAKER : Question time has now finished.
Dr K.D. Hames interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY : Mr Speaker, this is at least in part attributable to the fact that the allocation of this money to offer people elective surgery is starting to take effect. We would all, obviously, like the moneys that are allocated to have an immediate impact. Sometimes, particularly in health services, that is simply not possible, due to the need to allocate additional space to particular surgeons on elective surgery rosters and matters of that nature. I hoped that it would have happened more quickly. Hopefully, we will now see the full effect of the additional allocation to elective surgery take effect. Dr K.D. HAMES : I have a supplementary question. The SPEAKER : Question time has now finished.
Mr J.A. McGINTY : Mr Speaker, this is at least in part attributable to the fact that the allocation of this money to offer people elective surgery is starting to take effect. We would all, obviously, like the moneys that are allocated to have an immediate impact. Sometimes, particularly in health services, that is simply not possible, due to the need to allocate additional space to particular surgeons on elective surgery rosters and matters of that nature. I hoped that it would have happened more quickly. Hopefully, we will now see the full effect of the additional allocation to elective surgery take effect. Dr K.D. HAMES : I have a supplementary question. The SPEAKER : Question time has now finished.
Dr K.D. HAMES : I have a supplementary question. The SPEAKER : Question time has now finished.
The SPEAKER : Question time has now finished.
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