❓ The Minister for Health addresses concerns about elective surgery waitlists in regional WA, highlighting improvements in wait times and percentages of patients seen within recommended timeframes, while acknowledging demand pressures and exploring private sector partnerships.
AnsweredQoN 443Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
country health services — surgery waitlists
How is the waiting list for elective surgery going for people who live outside the Perth region? Dr K.D. HAMES
How is the waiting list for elective surgery going for people who live outside the Perth region? Dr K.D. HAMES
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Melbourne; in fact, my interest in looking more closely — Mr R.H. Cook : Member for Melbourne? Dr K.D. HAMES : What did I say? Mr R.H. Cook : Member for Melbourne! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have moved the member for Geraldton a little laterally! I was in Geraldton, not Melbourne, recently looking at our hospital system. It is quite clear in Geraldton that, despite that hospital having opened only in 2006, under the previous government, predictions of the demand at the hospital seriously underestimated the reality. The hospital is already bursting at the seams. During our visit we visited St John of God Hospital, which has capacity, and we talked about its request that we consider it for any waitlist surgery opportunities that arise. As this house knows, I have discussed before that I would consider allowing patients from country areas who are over boundary having surgery in the private sector. In fact, we are about to do that in some metropolitan hospitals. I got out the latest waitlist surgery figures for country areas and I was very pleasantly surprised. There were no patients who were over boundary who did not have a fixed appointment date for their surgeries. I have here the figures, which go back to 2007, for waitlist surgery categories in each area that show how we are performing as a government. I am obviously very happy to share those with the member for Geraldton. There are two components to this. One is the total number of people on the list and the other is the percentage of people who are done within the recommended time. I made an analogy to my staff earlier that if 10 people come for dinner and we say that we will feed them within 10 minutes, and we feed nine out of those 10 people in 10 minutes, we have done pretty well but have missed 10 per cent. If we then double the number so that we have 20 people, and 19 of them are fed within that limit, despite the total number being higher, the performance is better. So it is. I have made that very simple analogy to ensure that even the opposition will understand it. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It gets back to my issue of waiting list numbers. It is not the total number of people on the waiting list for surgery that is critical; it is the percentage of them who get their surgery within the recommended time. That is a reflection of how efficient the health service is. The figures go to June this year. If I go back to 2007—this is for category 1 surgery—66 per cent of patients in the country health service were seen within the recommended time. By 2008 that figure had gone down to only 59.4 per cent; the current figure for 2011 is 91.4 per cent. Therefore, we have gone from only 59 per cent—less than 60 per cent—of people being seen within the recommended time to 91 per cent now. Out of a total of more than 100 category 1 patients in country health services, only nine were not seen within the recommended time, and normally that was for medical reasons. For example, if someone needs urgent heart surgery but has out-of-control diabetes, we need to fix the diabetes before doing the surgery. I am aware of the time; therefore, I will go through these figures quickly. For category 2 cases, in 2007 under the former government, 83.4 per cent of people were seen within the recommended time; that figure is now 91.4 per cent. For category 3 cases, it was 96.6 per cent and is now 98.7 per cent—nearly 100 per cent of those patients were seen within the recommended time and only a very small number were over boundary for various reasons. As we can see, our country health services have been working exceptionally hard to ensure that, even with the growth in demand for services in country areas, they do an exceptional job. There are record percentages of surgeries in every category being done within the recommended times.
Dr K.D. HAMES replied: I thank the member for Melbourne; in fact, my interest in looking more closely — Mr R.H. Cook : Member for Melbourne? Dr K.D. HAMES : What did I say? Mr R.H. Cook : Member for Melbourne! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have moved the member for Geraldton a little laterally! I was in Geraldton, not Melbourne, recently looking at our hospital system. It is quite clear in Geraldton that, despite that hospital having opened only in 2006, under the previous government, predictions of the demand at the hospital seriously underestimated the reality. The hospital is already bursting at the seams. During our visit we visited St John of God Hospital, which has capacity, and we talked about its request that we consider it for any waitlist surgery opportunities that arise. As this house knows, I have discussed before that I would consider allowing patients from country areas who are over boundary having surgery in the private sector. In fact, we are about to do that in some metropolitan hospitals. I got out the latest waitlist surgery figures for country areas and I was very pleasantly surprised. There were no patients who were over boundary who did not have a fixed appointment date for their surgeries. I have here the figures, which go back to 2007, for waitlist surgery categories in each area that show how we are performing as a government. I am obviously very happy to share those with the member for Geraldton. There are two components to this. One is the total number of people on the list and the other is the percentage of people who are done within the recommended time. I made an analogy to my staff earlier that if 10 people come for dinner and we say that we will feed them within 10 minutes, and we feed nine out of those 10 people in 10 minutes, we have done pretty well but have missed 10 per cent. If we then double the number so that we have 20 people, and 19 of them are fed within that limit, despite the total number being higher, the performance is better. So it is. I have made that very simple analogy to ensure that even the opposition will understand it. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It gets back to my issue of waiting list numbers. It is not the total number of people on the waiting list for surgery that is critical; it is the percentage of them who get their surgery within the recommended time. That is a reflection of how efficient the health service is. The figures go to June this year. If I go back to 2007—this is for category 1 surgery—66 per cent of patients in the country health service were seen within the recommended time. By 2008 that figure had gone down to only 59.4 per cent; the current figure for 2011 is 91.4 per cent. Therefore, we have gone from only 59 per cent—less than 60 per cent—of people being seen within the recommended time to 91 per cent now. Out of a total of more than 100 category 1 patients in country health services, only nine were not seen within the recommended time, and normally that was for medical reasons. For example, if someone needs urgent heart surgery but has out-of-control diabetes, we need to fix the diabetes before doing the surgery. I am aware of the time; therefore, I will go through these figures quickly. For category 2 cases, in 2007 under the former government, 83.4 per cent of people were seen within the recommended time; that figure is now 91.4 per cent. For category 3 cases, it was 96.6 per cent and is now 98.7 per cent—nearly 100 per cent of those patients were seen within the recommended time and only a very small number were over boundary for various reasons. As we can see, our country health services have been working exceptionally hard to ensure that, even with the growth in demand for services in country areas, they do an exceptional job. There are record percentages of surgeries in every category being done within the recommended times.
I thank the member for Melbourne; in fact, my interest in looking more closely — Mr R.H. Cook : Member for Melbourne? Dr K.D. HAMES : What did I say? Mr R.H. Cook : Member for Melbourne! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have moved the member for Geraldton a little laterally! I was in Geraldton, not Melbourne, recently looking at our hospital system. It is quite clear in Geraldton that, despite that hospital having opened only in 2006, under the previous government, predictions of the demand at the hospital seriously underestimated the reality. The hospital is already bursting at the seams. During our visit we visited St John of God Hospital, which has capacity, and we talked about its request that we consider it for any waitlist surgery opportunities that arise. As this house knows, I have discussed before that I would consider allowing patients from country areas who are over boundary having surgery in the private sector. In fact, we are about to do that in some metropolitan hospitals. I got out the latest waitlist surgery figures for country areas and I was very pleasantly surprised. There were no patients who were over boundary who did not have a fixed appointment date for their surgeries. I have here the figures, which go back to 2007, for waitlist surgery categories in each area that show how we are performing as a government. I am obviously very happy to share those with the member for Geraldton. There are two components to this. One is the total number of people on the list and the other is the percentage of people who are done within the recommended time. I made an analogy to my staff earlier that if 10 people come for dinner and we say that we will feed them within 10 minutes, and we feed nine out of those 10 people in 10 minutes, we have done pretty well but have missed 10 per cent. If we then double the number so that we have 20 people, and 19 of them are fed within that limit, despite the total number being higher, the performance is better. So it is. I have made that very simple analogy to ensure that even the opposition will understand it. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It gets back to my issue of waiting list numbers. It is not the total number of people on the waiting list for surgery that is critical; it is the percentage of them who get their surgery within the recommended time. That is a reflection of how efficient the health service is. The figures go to June this year. If I go back to 2007—this is for category 1 surgery—66 per cent of patients in the country health service were seen within the recommended time. By 2008 that figure had gone down to only 59.4 per cent; the current figure for 2011 is 91.4 per cent. Therefore, we have gone from only 59 per cent—less than 60 per cent—of people being seen within the recommended time to 91 per cent now. Out of a total of more than 100 category 1 patients in country health services, only nine were not seen within the recommended time, and normally that was for medical reasons. For example, if someone needs urgent heart surgery but has out-of-control diabetes, we need to fix the diabetes before doing the surgery. I am aware of the time; therefore, I will go through these figures quickly. For category 2 cases, in 2007 under the former government, 83.4 per cent of people were seen within the recommended time; that figure is now 91.4 per cent. For category 3 cases, it was 96.6 per cent and is now 98.7 per cent—nearly 100 per cent of those patients were seen within the recommended time and only a very small number were over boundary for various reasons. As we can see, our country health services have been working exceptionally hard to ensure that, even with the growth in demand for services in country areas, they do an exceptional job. There are record percentages of surgeries in every category being done within the recommended times.
Mr R.H. Cook : Member for Melbourne? Dr K.D. HAMES : What did I say? Mr R.H. Cook : Member for Melbourne! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have moved the member for Geraldton a little laterally! I was in Geraldton, not Melbourne, recently looking at our hospital system. It is quite clear in Geraldton that, despite that hospital having opened only in 2006, under the previous government, predictions of the demand at the hospital seriously underestimated the reality. The hospital is already bursting at the seams. During our visit we visited St John of God Hospital, which has capacity, and we talked about its request that we consider it for any waitlist surgery opportunities that arise. As this house knows, I have discussed before that I would consider allowing patients from country areas who are over boundary having surgery in the private sector. In fact, we are about to do that in some metropolitan hospitals. I got out the latest waitlist surgery figures for country areas and I was very pleasantly surprised. There were no patients who were over boundary who did not have a fixed appointment date for their surgeries. I have here the figures, which go back to 2007, for waitlist surgery categories in each area that show how we are performing as a government. I am obviously very happy to share those with the member for Geraldton. There are two components to this. One is the total number of people on the list and the other is the percentage of people who are done within the recommended time. I made an analogy to my staff earlier that if 10 people come for dinner and we say that we will feed them within 10 minutes, and we feed nine out of those 10 people in 10 minutes, we have done pretty well but have missed 10 per cent. If we then double the number so that we have 20 people, and 19 of them are fed within that limit, despite the total number being higher, the performance is better. So it is. I have made that very simple analogy to ensure that even the opposition will understand it. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It gets back to my issue of waiting list numbers. It is not the total number of people on the waiting list for surgery that is critical; it is the percentage of them who get their surgery within the recommended time. That is a reflection of how efficient the health service is. The figures go to June this year. If I go back to 2007—this is for category 1 surgery—66 per cent of patients in the country health service were seen within the recommended time. By 2008 that figure had gone down to only 59.4 per cent; the current figure for 2011 is 91.4 per cent. Therefore, we have gone from only 59 per cent—less than 60 per cent—of people being seen within the recommended time to 91 per cent now. Out of a total of more than 100 category 1 patients in country health services, only nine were not seen within the recommended time, and normally that was for medical reasons. For example, if someone needs urgent heart surgery but has out-of-control diabetes, we need to fix the diabetes before doing the surgery. I am aware of the time; therefore, I will go through these figures quickly. For category 2 cases, in 2007 under the former government, 83.4 per cent of people were seen within the recommended time; that figure is now 91.4 per cent. For category 3 cases, it was 96.6 per cent and is now 98.7 per cent—nearly 100 per cent of those patients were seen within the recommended time and only a very small number were over boundary for various reasons. As we can see, our country health services have been working exceptionally hard to ensure that, even with the growth in demand for services in country areas, they do an exceptional job. There are record percentages of surgeries in every category being done within the recommended times.
Dr K.D. HAMES : What did I say? Mr R.H. Cook : Member for Melbourne! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have moved the member for Geraldton a little laterally! I was in Geraldton, not Melbourne, recently looking at our hospital system. It is quite clear in Geraldton that, despite that hospital having opened only in 2006, under the previous government, predictions of the demand at the hospital seriously underestimated the reality. The hospital is already bursting at the seams. During our visit we visited St John of God Hospital, which has capacity, and we talked about its request that we consider it for any waitlist surgery opportunities that arise. As this house knows, I have discussed before that I would consider allowing patients from country areas who are over boundary having surgery in the private sector. In fact, we are about to do that in some metropolitan hospitals. I got out the latest waitlist surgery figures for country areas and I was very pleasantly surprised. There were no patients who were over boundary who did not have a fixed appointment date for their surgeries. I have here the figures, which go back to 2007, for waitlist surgery categories in each area that show how we are performing as a government. I am obviously very happy to share those with the member for Geraldton. There are two components to this. One is the total number of people on the list and the other is the percentage of people who are done within the recommended time. I made an analogy to my staff earlier that if 10 people come for dinner and we say that we will feed them within 10 minutes, and we feed nine out of those 10 people in 10 minutes, we have done pretty well but have missed 10 per cent. If we then double the number so that we have 20 people, and 19 of them are fed within that limit, despite the total number being higher, the performance is better. So it is. I have made that very simple analogy to ensure that even the opposition will understand it. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It gets back to my issue of waiting list numbers. It is not the total number of people on the waiting list for surgery that is critical; it is the percentage of them who get their surgery within the recommended time. That is a reflection of how efficient the health service is. The figures go to June this year. If I go back to 2007—this is for category 1 surgery—66 per cent of patients in the country health service were seen within the recommended time. By 2008 that figure had gone down to only 59.4 per cent; the current figure for 2011 is 91.4 per cent. Therefore, we have gone from only 59 per cent—less than 60 per cent—of people being seen within the recommended time to 91 per cent now. Out of a total of more than 100 category 1 patients in country health services, only nine were not seen within the recommended time, and normally that was for medical reasons. For example, if someone needs urgent heart surgery but has out-of-control diabetes, we need to fix the diabetes before doing the surgery. I am aware of the time; therefore, I will go through these figures quickly. For category 2 cases, in 2007 under the former government, 83.4 per cent of people were seen within the recommended time; that figure is now 91.4 per cent. For category 3 cases, it was 96.6 per cent and is now 98.7 per cent—nearly 100 per cent of those patients were seen within the recommended time and only a very small number were over boundary for various reasons. As we can see, our country health services have been working exceptionally hard to ensure that, even with the growth in demand for services in country areas, they do an exceptional job. There are record percentages of surgeries in every category being done within the recommended times.
Mr R.H. Cook : Member for Melbourne! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have moved the member for Geraldton a little laterally! I was in Geraldton, not Melbourne, recently looking at our hospital system. It is quite clear in Geraldton that, despite that hospital having opened only in 2006, under the previous government, predictions of the demand at the hospital seriously underestimated the reality. The hospital is already bursting at the seams. During our visit we visited St John of God Hospital, which has capacity, and we talked about its request that we consider it for any waitlist surgery opportunities that arise. As this house knows, I have discussed before that I would consider allowing patients from country areas who are over boundary having surgery in the private sector. In fact, we are about to do that in some metropolitan hospitals. I got out the latest waitlist surgery figures for country areas and I was very pleasantly surprised. There were no patients who were over boundary who did not have a fixed appointment date for their surgeries. I have here the figures, which go back to 2007, for waitlist surgery categories in each area that show how we are performing as a government. I am obviously very happy to share those with the member for Geraldton. There are two components to this. One is the total number of people on the list and the other is the percentage of people who are done within the recommended time. I made an analogy to my staff earlier that if 10 people come for dinner and we say that we will feed them within 10 minutes, and we feed nine out of those 10 people in 10 minutes, we have done pretty well but have missed 10 per cent. If we then double the number so that we have 20 people, and 19 of them are fed within that limit, despite the total number being higher, the performance is better. So it is. I have made that very simple analogy to ensure that even the opposition will understand it. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It gets back to my issue of waiting list numbers. It is not the total number of people on the waiting list for surgery that is critical; it is the percentage of them who get their surgery within the recommended time. That is a reflection of how efficient the health service is. The figures go to June this year. If I go back to 2007—this is for category 1 surgery—66 per cent of patients in the country health service were seen within the recommended time. By 2008 that figure had gone down to only 59.4 per cent; the current figure for 2011 is 91.4 per cent. Therefore, we have gone from only 59 per cent—less than 60 per cent—of people being seen within the recommended time to 91 per cent now. Out of a total of more than 100 category 1 patients in country health services, only nine were not seen within the recommended time, and normally that was for medical reasons. For example, if someone needs urgent heart surgery but has out-of-control diabetes, we need to fix the diabetes before doing the surgery. I am aware of the time; therefore, I will go through these figures quickly. For category 2 cases, in 2007 under the former government, 83.4 per cent of people were seen within the recommended time; that figure is now 91.4 per cent. For category 3 cases, it was 96.6 per cent and is now 98.7 per cent—nearly 100 per cent of those patients were seen within the recommended time and only a very small number were over boundary for various reasons. As we can see, our country health services have been working exceptionally hard to ensure that, even with the growth in demand for services in country areas, they do an exceptional job. There are record percentages of surgeries in every category being done within the recommended times.
Dr K.D. HAMES : I have moved the member for Geraldton a little laterally! I was in Geraldton, not Melbourne, recently looking at our hospital system. It is quite clear in Geraldton that, despite that hospital having opened only in 2006, under the previous government, predictions of the demand at the hospital seriously underestimated the reality. The hospital is already bursting at the seams. During our visit we visited St John of God Hospital, which has capacity, and we talked about its request that we consider it for any waitlist surgery opportunities that arise. As this house knows, I have discussed before that I would consider allowing patients from country areas who are over boundary having surgery in the private sector. In fact, we are about to do that in some metropolitan hospitals. I got out the latest waitlist surgery figures for country areas and I was very pleasantly surprised. There were no patients who were over boundary who did not have a fixed appointment date for their surgeries. I have here the figures, which go back to 2007, for waitlist surgery categories in each area that show how we are performing as a government. I am obviously very happy to share those with the member for Geraldton. There are two components to this. One is the total number of people on the list and the other is the percentage of people who are done within the recommended time. I made an analogy to my staff earlier that if 10 people come for dinner and we say that we will feed them within 10 minutes, and we feed nine out of those 10 people in 10 minutes, we have done pretty well but have missed 10 per cent. If we then double the number so that we have 20 people, and 19 of them are fed within that limit, despite the total number being higher, the performance is better. So it is. I have made that very simple analogy to ensure that even the opposition will understand it. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It gets back to my issue of waiting list numbers. It is not the total number of people on the waiting list for surgery that is critical; it is the percentage of them who get their surgery within the recommended time. That is a reflection of how efficient the health service is. The figures go to June this year. If I go back to 2007—this is for category 1 surgery—66 per cent of patients in the country health service were seen within the recommended time. By 2008 that figure had gone down to only 59.4 per cent; the current figure for 2011 is 91.4 per cent. Therefore, we have gone from only 59 per cent—less than 60 per cent—of people being seen within the recommended time to 91 per cent now. Out of a total of more than 100 category 1 patients in country health services, only nine were not seen within the recommended time, and normally that was for medical reasons. For example, if someone needs urgent heart surgery but has out-of-control diabetes, we need to fix the diabetes before doing the surgery. I am aware of the time; therefore, I will go through these figures quickly. For category 2 cases, in 2007 under the former government, 83.4 per cent of people were seen within the recommended time; that figure is now 91.4 per cent. For category 3 cases, it was 96.6 per cent and is now 98.7 per cent—nearly 100 per cent of those patients were seen within the recommended time and only a very small number were over boundary for various reasons. As we can see, our country health services have been working exceptionally hard to ensure that, even with the growth in demand for services in country areas, they do an exceptional job. There are record percentages of surgeries in every category being done within the recommended times.
I was in Geraldton, not Melbourne, recently looking at our hospital system. It is quite clear in Geraldton that, despite that hospital having opened only in 2006, under the previous government, predictions of the demand at the hospital seriously underestimated the reality. The hospital is already bursting at the seams. During our visit we visited St John of God Hospital, which has capacity, and we talked about its request that we consider it for any waitlist surgery opportunities that arise. As this house knows, I have discussed before that I would consider allowing patients from country areas who are over boundary having surgery in the private sector. In fact, we are about to do that in some metropolitan hospitals. I got out the latest waitlist surgery figures for country areas and I was very pleasantly surprised. There were no patients who were over boundary who did not have a fixed appointment date for their surgeries. I have here the figures, which go back to 2007, for waitlist surgery categories in each area that show how we are performing as a government. I am obviously very happy to share those with the member for Geraldton. There are two components to this. One is the total number of people on the list and the other is the percentage of people who are done within the recommended time. I made an analogy to my staff earlier that if 10 people come for dinner and we say that we will feed them within 10 minutes, and we feed nine out of those 10 people in 10 minutes, we have done pretty well but have missed 10 per cent. If we then double the number so that we have 20 people, and 19 of them are fed within that limit, despite the total number being higher, the performance is better. So it is. I have made that very simple analogy to ensure that even the opposition will understand it. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It gets back to my issue of waiting list numbers. It is not the total number of people on the waiting list for surgery that is critical; it is the percentage of them who get their surgery within the recommended time. That is a reflection of how efficient the health service is. The figures go to June this year. If I go back to 2007—this is for category 1 surgery—66 per cent of patients in the country health service were seen within the recommended time. By 2008 that figure had gone down to only 59.4 per cent; the current figure for 2011 is 91.4 per cent. Therefore, we have gone from only 59 per cent—less than 60 per cent—of people being seen within the recommended time to 91 per cent now. Out of a total of more than 100 category 1 patients in country health services, only nine were not seen within the recommended time, and normally that was for medical reasons. For example, if someone needs urgent heart surgery but has out-of-control diabetes, we need to fix the diabetes before doing the surgery. I am aware of the time; therefore, I will go through these figures quickly. For category 2 cases, in 2007 under the former government, 83.4 per cent of people were seen within the recommended time; that figure is now 91.4 per cent. For category 3 cases, it was 96.6 per cent and is now 98.7 per cent—nearly 100 per cent of those patients were seen within the recommended time and only a very small number were over boundary for various reasons. As we can see, our country health services have been working exceptionally hard to ensure that, even with the growth in demand for services in country areas, they do an exceptional job. There are record percentages of surgeries in every category being done within the recommended times.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It gets back to my issue of waiting list numbers. It is not the total number of people on the waiting list for surgery that is critical; it is the percentage of them who get their surgery within the recommended time. That is a reflection of how efficient the health service is. The figures go to June this year. If I go back to 2007—this is for category 1 surgery—66 per cent of patients in the country health service were seen within the recommended time. By 2008 that figure had gone down to only 59.4 per cent; the current figure for 2011 is 91.4 per cent. Therefore, we have gone from only 59 per cent—less than 60 per cent—of people being seen within the recommended time to 91 per cent now. Out of a total of more than 100 category 1 patients in country health services, only nine were not seen within the recommended time, and normally that was for medical reasons. For example, if someone needs urgent heart surgery but has out-of-control diabetes, we need to fix the diabetes before doing the surgery. I am aware of the time; therefore, I will go through these figures quickly. For category 2 cases, in 2007 under the former government, 83.4 per cent of people were seen within the recommended time; that figure is now 91.4 per cent. For category 3 cases, it was 96.6 per cent and is now 98.7 per cent—nearly 100 per cent of those patients were seen within the recommended time and only a very small number were over boundary for various reasons. As we can see, our country health services have been working exceptionally hard to ensure that, even with the growth in demand for services in country areas, they do an exceptional job. There are record percentages of surgeries in every category being done within the recommended times.
The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It gets back to my issue of waiting list numbers. It is not the total number of people on the waiting list for surgery that is critical; it is the percentage of them who get their surgery within the recommended time. That is a reflection of how efficient the health service is. The figures go to June this year. If I go back to 2007—this is for category 1 surgery—66 per cent of patients in the country health service were seen within the recommended time. By 2008 that figure had gone down to only 59.4 per cent; the current figure for 2011 is 91.4 per cent. Therefore, we have gone from only 59 per cent—less than 60 per cent—of people being seen within the recommended time to 91 per cent now. Out of a total of more than 100 category 1 patients in country health services, only nine were not seen within the recommended time, and normally that was for medical reasons. For example, if someone needs urgent heart surgery but has out-of-control diabetes, we need to fix the diabetes before doing the surgery. I am aware of the time; therefore, I will go through these figures quickly. For category 2 cases, in 2007 under the former government, 83.4 per cent of people were seen within the recommended time; that figure is now 91.4 per cent. For category 3 cases, it was 96.6 per cent and is now 98.7 per cent—nearly 100 per cent of those patients were seen within the recommended time and only a very small number were over boundary for various reasons. As we can see, our country health services have been working exceptionally hard to ensure that, even with the growth in demand for services in country areas, they do an exceptional job. There are record percentages of surgeries in every category being done within the recommended times.
Dr K.D. HAMES : It gets back to my issue of waiting list numbers. It is not the total number of people on the waiting list for surgery that is critical; it is the percentage of them who get their surgery within the recommended time. That is a reflection of how efficient the health service is. The figures go to June this year. If I go back to 2007—this is for category 1 surgery—66 per cent of patients in the country health service were seen within the recommended time. By 2008 that figure had gone down to only 59.4 per cent; the current figure for 2011 is 91.4 per cent. Therefore, we have gone from only 59 per cent—less than 60 per cent—of people being seen within the recommended time to 91 per cent now. Out of a total of more than 100 category 1 patients in country health services, only nine were not seen within the recommended time, and normally that was for medical reasons. For example, if someone needs urgent heart surgery but has out-of-control diabetes, we need to fix the diabetes before doing the surgery. I am aware of the time; therefore, I will go through these figures quickly. For category 2 cases, in 2007 under the former government, 83.4 per cent of people were seen within the recommended time; that figure is now 91.4 per cent. For category 3 cases, it was 96.6 per cent and is now 98.7 per cent—nearly 100 per cent of those patients were seen within the recommended time and only a very small number were over boundary for various reasons. As we can see, our country health services have been working exceptionally hard to ensure that, even with the growth in demand for services in country areas, they do an exceptional job. There are record percentages of surgeries in every category being done within the recommended times.
Dr K.D. HAMES replied: I thank the member for Melbourne; in fact, my interest in looking more closely — Mr R.H. Cook : Member for Melbourne? Dr K.D. HAMES : What did I say? Mr R.H. Cook : Member for Melbourne! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have moved the member for Geraldton a little laterally! I was in Geraldton, not Melbourne, recently looking at our hospital system. It is quite clear in Geraldton that, despite that hospital having opened only in 2006, under the previous government, predictions of the demand at the hospital seriously underestimated the reality. The hospital is already bursting at the seams. During our visit we visited St John of God Hospital, which has capacity, and we talked about its request that we consider it for any waitlist surgery opportunities that arise. As this house knows, I have discussed before that I would consider allowing patients from country areas who are over boundary having surgery in the private sector. In fact, we are about to do that in some metropolitan hospitals. I got out the latest waitlist surgery figures for country areas and I was very pleasantly surprised. There were no patients who were over boundary who did not have a fixed appointment date for their surgeries. I have here the figures, which go back to 2007, for waitlist surgery categories in each area that show how we are performing as a government. I am obviously very happy to share those with the member for Geraldton. There are two components to this. One is the total number of people on the list and the other is the percentage of people who are done within the recommended time. I made an analogy to my staff earlier that if 10 people come for dinner and we say that we will feed them within 10 minutes, and we feed nine out of those 10 people in 10 minutes, we have done pretty well but have missed 10 per cent. If we then double the number so that we have 20 people, and 19 of them are fed within that limit, despite the total number being higher, the performance is better. So it is. I have made that very simple analogy to ensure that even the opposition will understand it. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It gets back to my issue of waiting list numbers. It is not the total number of people on the waiting list for surgery that is critical; it is the percentage of them who get their surgery within the recommended time. That is a reflection of how efficient the health service is. The figures go to June this year. If I go back to 2007—this is for category 1 surgery—66 per cent of patients in the country health service were seen within the recommended time. By 2008 that figure had gone down to only 59.4 per cent; the current figure for 2011 is 91.4 per cent. Therefore, we have gone from only 59 per cent—less than 60 per cent—of people being seen within the recommended time to 91 per cent now. Out of a total of more than 100 category 1 patients in country health services, only nine were not seen within the recommended time, and normally that was for medical reasons. For example, if someone needs urgent heart surgery but has out-of-control diabetes, we need to fix the diabetes before doing the surgery. I am aware of the time; therefore, I will go through these figures quickly. For category 2 cases, in 2007 under the former government, 83.4 per cent of people were seen within the recommended time; that figure is now 91.4 per cent. For category 3 cases, it was 96.6 per cent and is now 98.7 per cent—nearly 100 per cent of those patients were seen within the recommended time and only a very small number were over boundary for various reasons. As we can see, our country health services have been working exceptionally hard to ensure that, even with the growth in demand for services in country areas, they do an exceptional job. There are record percentages of surgeries in every category being done within the recommended times.
I thank the member for Melbourne; in fact, my interest in looking more closely — Mr R.H. Cook : Member for Melbourne? Dr K.D. HAMES : What did I say? Mr R.H. Cook : Member for Melbourne! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have moved the member for Geraldton a little laterally! I was in Geraldton, not Melbourne, recently looking at our hospital system. It is quite clear in Geraldton that, despite that hospital having opened only in 2006, under the previous government, predictions of the demand at the hospital seriously underestimated the reality. The hospital is already bursting at the seams. During our visit we visited St John of God Hospital, which has capacity, and we talked about its request that we consider it for any waitlist surgery opportunities that arise. As this house knows, I have discussed before that I would consider allowing patients from country areas who are over boundary having surgery in the private sector. In fact, we are about to do that in some metropolitan hospitals. I got out the latest waitlist surgery figures for country areas and I was very pleasantly surprised. There were no patients who were over boundary who did not have a fixed appointment date for their surgeries. I have here the figures, which go back to 2007, for waitlist surgery categories in each area that show how we are performing as a government. I am obviously very happy to share those with the member for Geraldton. There are two components to this. One is the total number of people on the list and the other is the percentage of people who are done within the recommended time. I made an analogy to my staff earlier that if 10 people come for dinner and we say that we will feed them within 10 minutes, and we feed nine out of those 10 people in 10 minutes, we have done pretty well but have missed 10 per cent. If we then double the number so that we have 20 people, and 19 of them are fed within that limit, despite the total number being higher, the performance is better. So it is. I have made that very simple analogy to ensure that even the opposition will understand it. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It gets back to my issue of waiting list numbers. It is not the total number of people on the waiting list for surgery that is critical; it is the percentage of them who get their surgery within the recommended time. That is a reflection of how efficient the health service is. The figures go to June this year. If I go back to 2007—this is for category 1 surgery—66 per cent of patients in the country health service were seen within the recommended time. By 2008 that figure had gone down to only 59.4 per cent; the current figure for 2011 is 91.4 per cent. Therefore, we have gone from only 59 per cent—less than 60 per cent—of people being seen within the recommended time to 91 per cent now. Out of a total of more than 100 category 1 patients in country health services, only nine were not seen within the recommended time, and normally that was for medical reasons. For example, if someone needs urgent heart surgery but has out-of-control diabetes, we need to fix the diabetes before doing the surgery. I am aware of the time; therefore, I will go through these figures quickly. For category 2 cases, in 2007 under the former government, 83.4 per cent of people were seen within the recommended time; that figure is now 91.4 per cent. For category 3 cases, it was 96.6 per cent and is now 98.7 per cent—nearly 100 per cent of those patients were seen within the recommended time and only a very small number were over boundary for various reasons. As we can see, our country health services have been working exceptionally hard to ensure that, even with the growth in demand for services in country areas, they do an exceptional job. There are record percentages of surgeries in every category being done within the recommended times.
Mr R.H. Cook : Member for Melbourne? Dr K.D. HAMES : What did I say? Mr R.H. Cook : Member for Melbourne! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have moved the member for Geraldton a little laterally! I was in Geraldton, not Melbourne, recently looking at our hospital system. It is quite clear in Geraldton that, despite that hospital having opened only in 2006, under the previous government, predictions of the demand at the hospital seriously underestimated the reality. The hospital is already bursting at the seams. During our visit we visited St John of God Hospital, which has capacity, and we talked about its request that we consider it for any waitlist surgery opportunities that arise. As this house knows, I have discussed before that I would consider allowing patients from country areas who are over boundary having surgery in the private sector. In fact, we are about to do that in some metropolitan hospitals. I got out the latest waitlist surgery figures for country areas and I was very pleasantly surprised. There were no patients who were over boundary who did not have a fixed appointment date for their surgeries. I have here the figures, which go back to 2007, for waitlist surgery categories in each area that show how we are performing as a government. I am obviously very happy to share those with the member for Geraldton. There are two components to this. One is the total number of people on the list and the other is the percentage of people who are done within the recommended time. I made an analogy to my staff earlier that if 10 people come for dinner and we say that we will feed them within 10 minutes, and we feed nine out of those 10 people in 10 minutes, we have done pretty well but have missed 10 per cent. If we then double the number so that we have 20 people, and 19 of them are fed within that limit, despite the total number being higher, the performance is better. So it is. I have made that very simple analogy to ensure that even the opposition will understand it. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It gets back to my issue of waiting list numbers. It is not the total number of people on the waiting list for surgery that is critical; it is the percentage of them who get their surgery within the recommended time. That is a reflection of how efficient the health service is. The figures go to June this year. If I go back to 2007—this is for category 1 surgery—66 per cent of patients in the country health service were seen within the recommended time. By 2008 that figure had gone down to only 59.4 per cent; the current figure for 2011 is 91.4 per cent. Therefore, we have gone from only 59 per cent—less than 60 per cent—of people being seen within the recommended time to 91 per cent now. Out of a total of more than 100 category 1 patients in country health services, only nine were not seen within the recommended time, and normally that was for medical reasons. For example, if someone needs urgent heart surgery but has out-of-control diabetes, we need to fix the diabetes before doing the surgery. I am aware of the time; therefore, I will go through these figures quickly. For category 2 cases, in 2007 under the former government, 83.4 per cent of people were seen within the recommended time; that figure is now 91.4 per cent. For category 3 cases, it was 96.6 per cent and is now 98.7 per cent—nearly 100 per cent of those patients were seen within the recommended time and only a very small number were over boundary for various reasons. As we can see, our country health services have been working exceptionally hard to ensure that, even with the growth in demand for services in country areas, they do an exceptional job. There are record percentages of surgeries in every category being done within the recommended times.
Dr K.D. HAMES : What did I say? Mr R.H. Cook : Member for Melbourne! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have moved the member for Geraldton a little laterally! I was in Geraldton, not Melbourne, recently looking at our hospital system. It is quite clear in Geraldton that, despite that hospital having opened only in 2006, under the previous government, predictions of the demand at the hospital seriously underestimated the reality. The hospital is already bursting at the seams. During our visit we visited St John of God Hospital, which has capacity, and we talked about its request that we consider it for any waitlist surgery opportunities that arise. As this house knows, I have discussed before that I would consider allowing patients from country areas who are over boundary having surgery in the private sector. In fact, we are about to do that in some metropolitan hospitals. I got out the latest waitlist surgery figures for country areas and I was very pleasantly surprised. There were no patients who were over boundary who did not have a fixed appointment date for their surgeries. I have here the figures, which go back to 2007, for waitlist surgery categories in each area that show how we are performing as a government. I am obviously very happy to share those with the member for Geraldton. There are two components to this. One is the total number of people on the list and the other is the percentage of people who are done within the recommended time. I made an analogy to my staff earlier that if 10 people come for dinner and we say that we will feed them within 10 minutes, and we feed nine out of those 10 people in 10 minutes, we have done pretty well but have missed 10 per cent. If we then double the number so that we have 20 people, and 19 of them are fed within that limit, despite the total number being higher, the performance is better. So it is. I have made that very simple analogy to ensure that even the opposition will understand it. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It gets back to my issue of waiting list numbers. It is not the total number of people on the waiting list for surgery that is critical; it is the percentage of them who get their surgery within the recommended time. That is a reflection of how efficient the health service is. The figures go to June this year. If I go back to 2007—this is for category 1 surgery—66 per cent of patients in the country health service were seen within the recommended time. By 2008 that figure had gone down to only 59.4 per cent; the current figure for 2011 is 91.4 per cent. Therefore, we have gone from only 59 per cent—less than 60 per cent—of people being seen within the recommended time to 91 per cent now. Out of a total of more than 100 category 1 patients in country health services, only nine were not seen within the recommended time, and normally that was for medical reasons. For example, if someone needs urgent heart surgery but has out-of-control diabetes, we need to fix the diabetes before doing the surgery. I am aware of the time; therefore, I will go through these figures quickly. For category 2 cases, in 2007 under the former government, 83.4 per cent of people were seen within the recommended time; that figure is now 91.4 per cent. For category 3 cases, it was 96.6 per cent and is now 98.7 per cent—nearly 100 per cent of those patients were seen within the recommended time and only a very small number were over boundary for various reasons. As we can see, our country health services have been working exceptionally hard to ensure that, even with the growth in demand for services in country areas, they do an exceptional job. There are record percentages of surgeries in every category being done within the recommended times.
Mr R.H. Cook : Member for Melbourne! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have moved the member for Geraldton a little laterally! I was in Geraldton, not Melbourne, recently looking at our hospital system. It is quite clear in Geraldton that, despite that hospital having opened only in 2006, under the previous government, predictions of the demand at the hospital seriously underestimated the reality. The hospital is already bursting at the seams. During our visit we visited St John of God Hospital, which has capacity, and we talked about its request that we consider it for any waitlist surgery opportunities that arise. As this house knows, I have discussed before that I would consider allowing patients from country areas who are over boundary having surgery in the private sector. In fact, we are about to do that in some metropolitan hospitals. I got out the latest waitlist surgery figures for country areas and I was very pleasantly surprised. There were no patients who were over boundary who did not have a fixed appointment date for their surgeries. I have here the figures, which go back to 2007, for waitlist surgery categories in each area that show how we are performing as a government. I am obviously very happy to share those with the member for Geraldton. There are two components to this. One is the total number of people on the list and the other is the percentage of people who are done within the recommended time. I made an analogy to my staff earlier that if 10 people come for dinner and we say that we will feed them within 10 minutes, and we feed nine out of those 10 people in 10 minutes, we have done pretty well but have missed 10 per cent. If we then double the number so that we have 20 people, and 19 of them are fed within that limit, despite the total number being higher, the performance is better. So it is. I have made that very simple analogy to ensure that even the opposition will understand it. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It gets back to my issue of waiting list numbers. It is not the total number of people on the waiting list for surgery that is critical; it is the percentage of them who get their surgery within the recommended time. That is a reflection of how efficient the health service is. The figures go to June this year. If I go back to 2007—this is for category 1 surgery—66 per cent of patients in the country health service were seen within the recommended time. By 2008 that figure had gone down to only 59.4 per cent; the current figure for 2011 is 91.4 per cent. Therefore, we have gone from only 59 per cent—less than 60 per cent—of people being seen within the recommended time to 91 per cent now. Out of a total of more than 100 category 1 patients in country health services, only nine were not seen within the recommended time, and normally that was for medical reasons. For example, if someone needs urgent heart surgery but has out-of-control diabetes, we need to fix the diabetes before doing the surgery. I am aware of the time; therefore, I will go through these figures quickly. For category 2 cases, in 2007 under the former government, 83.4 per cent of people were seen within the recommended time; that figure is now 91.4 per cent. For category 3 cases, it was 96.6 per cent and is now 98.7 per cent—nearly 100 per cent of those patients were seen within the recommended time and only a very small number were over boundary for various reasons. As we can see, our country health services have been working exceptionally hard to ensure that, even with the growth in demand for services in country areas, they do an exceptional job. There are record percentages of surgeries in every category being done within the recommended times.
Dr K.D. HAMES : I have moved the member for Geraldton a little laterally! I was in Geraldton, not Melbourne, recently looking at our hospital system. It is quite clear in Geraldton that, despite that hospital having opened only in 2006, under the previous government, predictions of the demand at the hospital seriously underestimated the reality. The hospital is already bursting at the seams. During our visit we visited St John of God Hospital, which has capacity, and we talked about its request that we consider it for any waitlist surgery opportunities that arise. As this house knows, I have discussed before that I would consider allowing patients from country areas who are over boundary having surgery in the private sector. In fact, we are about to do that in some metropolitan hospitals. I got out the latest waitlist surgery figures for country areas and I was very pleasantly surprised. There were no patients who were over boundary who did not have a fixed appointment date for their surgeries. I have here the figures, which go back to 2007, for waitlist surgery categories in each area that show how we are performing as a government. I am obviously very happy to share those with the member for Geraldton. There are two components to this. One is the total number of people on the list and the other is the percentage of people who are done within the recommended time. I made an analogy to my staff earlier that if 10 people come for dinner and we say that we will feed them within 10 minutes, and we feed nine out of those 10 people in 10 minutes, we have done pretty well but have missed 10 per cent. If we then double the number so that we have 20 people, and 19 of them are fed within that limit, despite the total number being higher, the performance is better. So it is. I have made that very simple analogy to ensure that even the opposition will understand it. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It gets back to my issue of waiting list numbers. It is not the total number of people on the waiting list for surgery that is critical; it is the percentage of them who get their surgery within the recommended time. That is a reflection of how efficient the health service is. The figures go to June this year. If I go back to 2007—this is for category 1 surgery—66 per cent of patients in the country health service were seen within the recommended time. By 2008 that figure had gone down to only 59.4 per cent; the current figure for 2011 is 91.4 per cent. Therefore, we have gone from only 59 per cent—less than 60 per cent—of people being seen within the recommended time to 91 per cent now. Out of a total of more than 100 category 1 patients in country health services, only nine were not seen within the recommended time, and normally that was for medical reasons. For example, if someone needs urgent heart surgery but has out-of-control diabetes, we need to fix the diabetes before doing the surgery. I am aware of the time; therefore, I will go through these figures quickly. For category 2 cases, in 2007 under the former government, 83.4 per cent of people were seen within the recommended time; that figure is now 91.4 per cent. For category 3 cases, it was 96.6 per cent and is now 98.7 per cent—nearly 100 per cent of those patients were seen within the recommended time and only a very small number were over boundary for various reasons. As we can see, our country health services have been working exceptionally hard to ensure that, even with the growth in demand for services in country areas, they do an exceptional job. There are record percentages of surgeries in every category being done within the recommended times.
I was in Geraldton, not Melbourne, recently looking at our hospital system. It is quite clear in Geraldton that, despite that hospital having opened only in 2006, under the previous government, predictions of the demand at the hospital seriously underestimated the reality. The hospital is already bursting at the seams. During our visit we visited St John of God Hospital, which has capacity, and we talked about its request that we consider it for any waitlist surgery opportunities that arise. As this house knows, I have discussed before that I would consider allowing patients from country areas who are over boundary having surgery in the private sector. In fact, we are about to do that in some metropolitan hospitals. I got out the latest waitlist surgery figures for country areas and I was very pleasantly surprised. There were no patients who were over boundary who did not have a fixed appointment date for their surgeries. I have here the figures, which go back to 2007, for waitlist surgery categories in each area that show how we are performing as a government. I am obviously very happy to share those with the member for Geraldton. There are two components to this. One is the total number of people on the list and the other is the percentage of people who are done within the recommended time. I made an analogy to my staff earlier that if 10 people come for dinner and we say that we will feed them within 10 minutes, and we feed nine out of those 10 people in 10 minutes, we have done pretty well but have missed 10 per cent. If we then double the number so that we have 20 people, and 19 of them are fed within that limit, despite the total number being higher, the performance is better. So it is. I have made that very simple analogy to ensure that even the opposition will understand it. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It gets back to my issue of waiting list numbers. It is not the total number of people on the waiting list for surgery that is critical; it is the percentage of them who get their surgery within the recommended time. That is a reflection of how efficient the health service is. The figures go to June this year. If I go back to 2007—this is for category 1 surgery—66 per cent of patients in the country health service were seen within the recommended time. By 2008 that figure had gone down to only 59.4 per cent; the current figure for 2011 is 91.4 per cent. Therefore, we have gone from only 59 per cent—less than 60 per cent—of people being seen within the recommended time to 91 per cent now. Out of a total of more than 100 category 1 patients in country health services, only nine were not seen within the recommended time, and normally that was for medical reasons. For example, if someone needs urgent heart surgery but has out-of-control diabetes, we need to fix the diabetes before doing the surgery. I am aware of the time; therefore, I will go through these figures quickly. For category 2 cases, in 2007 under the former government, 83.4 per cent of people were seen within the recommended time; that figure is now 91.4 per cent. For category 3 cases, it was 96.6 per cent and is now 98.7 per cent—nearly 100 per cent of those patients were seen within the recommended time and only a very small number were over boundary for various reasons. As we can see, our country health services have been working exceptionally hard to ensure that, even with the growth in demand for services in country areas, they do an exceptional job. There are record percentages of surgeries in every category being done within the recommended times.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It gets back to my issue of waiting list numbers. It is not the total number of people on the waiting list for surgery that is critical; it is the percentage of them who get their surgery within the recommended time. That is a reflection of how efficient the health service is. The figures go to June this year. If I go back to 2007—this is for category 1 surgery—66 per cent of patients in the country health service were seen within the recommended time. By 2008 that figure had gone down to only 59.4 per cent; the current figure for 2011 is 91.4 per cent. Therefore, we have gone from only 59 per cent—less than 60 per cent—of people being seen within the recommended time to 91 per cent now. Out of a total of more than 100 category 1 patients in country health services, only nine were not seen within the recommended time, and normally that was for medical reasons. For example, if someone needs urgent heart surgery but has out-of-control diabetes, we need to fix the diabetes before doing the surgery. I am aware of the time; therefore, I will go through these figures quickly. For category 2 cases, in 2007 under the former government, 83.4 per cent of people were seen within the recommended time; that figure is now 91.4 per cent. For category 3 cases, it was 96.6 per cent and is now 98.7 per cent—nearly 100 per cent of those patients were seen within the recommended time and only a very small number were over boundary for various reasons. As we can see, our country health services have been working exceptionally hard to ensure that, even with the growth in demand for services in country areas, they do an exceptional job. There are record percentages of surgeries in every category being done within the recommended times.
The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It gets back to my issue of waiting list numbers. It is not the total number of people on the waiting list for surgery that is critical; it is the percentage of them who get their surgery within the recommended time. That is a reflection of how efficient the health service is. The figures go to June this year. If I go back to 2007—this is for category 1 surgery—66 per cent of patients in the country health service were seen within the recommended time. By 2008 that figure had gone down to only 59.4 per cent; the current figure for 2011 is 91.4 per cent. Therefore, we have gone from only 59 per cent—less than 60 per cent—of people being seen within the recommended time to 91 per cent now. Out of a total of more than 100 category 1 patients in country health services, only nine were not seen within the recommended time, and normally that was for medical reasons. For example, if someone needs urgent heart surgery but has out-of-control diabetes, we need to fix the diabetes before doing the surgery. I am aware of the time; therefore, I will go through these figures quickly. For category 2 cases, in 2007 under the former government, 83.4 per cent of people were seen within the recommended time; that figure is now 91.4 per cent. For category 3 cases, it was 96.6 per cent and is now 98.7 per cent—nearly 100 per cent of those patients were seen within the recommended time and only a very small number were over boundary for various reasons. As we can see, our country health services have been working exceptionally hard to ensure that, even with the growth in demand for services in country areas, they do an exceptional job. There are record percentages of surgeries in every category being done within the recommended times.
Dr K.D. HAMES : It gets back to my issue of waiting list numbers. It is not the total number of people on the waiting list for surgery that is critical; it is the percentage of them who get their surgery within the recommended time. That is a reflection of how efficient the health service is. The figures go to June this year. If I go back to 2007—this is for category 1 surgery—66 per cent of patients in the country health service were seen within the recommended time. By 2008 that figure had gone down to only 59.4 per cent; the current figure for 2011 is 91.4 per cent. Therefore, we have gone from only 59 per cent—less than 60 per cent—of people being seen within the recommended time to 91 per cent now. Out of a total of more than 100 category 1 patients in country health services, only nine were not seen within the recommended time, and normally that was for medical reasons. For example, if someone needs urgent heart surgery but has out-of-control diabetes, we need to fix the diabetes before doing the surgery. I am aware of the time; therefore, I will go through these figures quickly. For category 2 cases, in 2007 under the former government, 83.4 per cent of people were seen within the recommended time; that figure is now 91.4 per cent. For category 3 cases, it was 96.6 per cent and is now 98.7 per cent—nearly 100 per cent of those patients were seen within the recommended time and only a very small number were over boundary for various reasons. As we can see, our country health services have been working exceptionally hard to ensure that, even with the growth in demand for services in country areas, they do an exceptional job. There are record percentages of surgeries in every category being done within the recommended times.
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