❓ Dr. Hames questions Minister McGinty about elective surgery waiting list figures, alleging misleading statements. McGinty defends the figures, explaining adjustments made to include privately managed hospitals and highlighting overall reductions in waiting lists since the previous government.
AnsweredQoN 334Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to the minister’s boasts in this house about reducing waiting lists and the comments attributed to him in The West Australian on 24 June that the opposition figures failed to take into account surgery at Joondalup and Peel hospitals. (1) Is the minister aware that these figures were provided by him, not the opposition, as supplementary information to the estimates committees and that the figures from 2003 include Peel and Joondalup hospitals? (2) Is he aware that the figures show a reduction of more than 2 000 surgical cases over the past two years? (3) Is he aware that the reasons most of the patients were taken off the waiting list were other than for surgery? (4) Will he now apologise for misleading the house? Mr J.A. McGINTY
AnswerView source ↗
(1)-(4) That is a good try. Unfortunately, the matter is not well understood by the member for Dawesville. Let me explain: when we came to government, the figures for elective surgery waitlists for the privately managed public hospitals were not included in the total figures. Therefore, that gave quite a misleading impression. That is a situation which was raised on a number of occasions and which I have now reversed. When we now publish waitlist figures, they refer to all hospitals in the metropolitan area that have a public connection; that is, the tertiary hospitals, the government secondary hospitals and the privately managed public hospitals of Joondalup and Peel. Unfortunately, all those figures do not go back to 2001, when we came to office. Dr K.D. Hames : My question refers to the past two years. Mr J.A. McGINTY : Let me explain this point. Not all figures are uniform in the comparison of like with like, because the earlier figures did not include Joondalup and Peel. When we were putting together the answer to the question arising out of the estimates committee hearing by way of the supplementary information sought by the member for Dawesville, we had to make an adjustment. We needed to have a like-with-like comparison, but we could not include some of the Joondalup and Peel figures because they either did not exist or did not uniformly exist in a way that could be sensibly added to the figures. As was stated at the estimates committee hearing, there has been a decline in the number of patients on the acute public and privately managed waitlists from 18 926 people on 1 January 2001 to 15 841 people on 1 January 2005. The figures show a significant decline in the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The newspaper article to which the member for Dawesville referred goes back a little further. When we were in opposition, I remember well when the elective surgery waitlist peaked at 21 500 Western Australians waiting for surgery in this state. That compares very poorly with the 16 000 people, roughly, who are waiting for elective surgery today, notwithstanding increased demand. We have dramatically cut the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The actual figures that were referred to in the newspaper article go back to the high point. In fact, I think it is a low point, but it is a high point in numbers. Under the Liberal government in this state, 21 546 people were waiting for elective surgery in July 1999. The current figure is 16 310. That is a dramatic reduction of more than 5 000 fewer Western Australians waiting for surgery. The second question that was asked by the member for Dawesville relates to a reduction in the amount of surgery undertaken over the past two years. There was a reduction in the number of admissions for elective surgery to the tertiary and non-tertiary public hospitals of 2 134 between January 2002 and December 2004. If we include waitlist admissions for elective surgery from Peel and Joondalup for the same period, the reduction is considerably less. Dr K.D. Hames : You haven’t answered the question, have you? Mr J.A. McGINTY : Yes, I have. I refer to the supplementary information. So that the member for Dawesville knows technically what it means, I point out that where the words “Tertiary and Non tertiary hospitals only” appear in the heading to the answer, that does not, generally speaking, include the privately managed public hospitals. It relates to the other two that are traditionally measured. Therefore, we have provided that information in that technical form for the member. Finally, the reason that we have put $40 million more into elective surgery over the next four-year term of this government is to make sure that we continue to drive the elective surgery waitlist down. I am confident that, with a range of initiatives, that waitlist will continue to cascade down, as it has during the course of this government’s term, and it will make the figure of 21 500 Western Australian citizens who were waiting for elective surgery under the member’s government look very poor indeed.
(1) Is the minister aware that these figures were provided by him, not the opposition, as supplementary information to the estimates committees and that the figures from 2003 include Peel and Joondalup hospitals? (2) Is he aware that the figures show a reduction of more than 2 000 surgical cases over the past two years? (3) Is he aware that the reasons most of the patients were taken off the waiting list were other than for surgery? (4) Will he now apologise for misleading the house? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(4) That is a good try. Unfortunately, the matter is not well understood by the member for Dawesville. Let me explain: when we came to government, the figures for elective surgery waitlists for the privately managed public hospitals were not included in the total figures. Therefore, that gave quite a misleading impression. That is a situation which was raised on a number of occasions and which I have now reversed. When we now publish waitlist figures, they refer to all hospitals in the metropolitan area that have a public connection; that is, the tertiary hospitals, the government secondary hospitals and the privately managed public hospitals of Joondalup and Peel. Unfortunately, all those figures do not go back to 2001, when we came to office. Dr K.D. Hames : My question refers to the past two years. Mr J.A. McGINTY : Let me explain this point. Not all figures are uniform in the comparison of like with like, because the earlier figures did not include Joondalup and Peel. When we were putting together the answer to the question arising out of the estimates committee hearing by way of the supplementary information sought by the member for Dawesville, we had to make an adjustment. We needed to have a like-with-like comparison, but we could not include some of the Joondalup and Peel figures because they either did not exist or did not uniformly exist in a way that could be sensibly added to the figures. As was stated at the estimates committee hearing, there has been a decline in the number of patients on the acute public and privately managed waitlists from 18 926 people on 1 January 2001 to 15 841 people on 1 January 2005. The figures show a significant decline in the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The newspaper article to which the member for Dawesville referred goes back a little further. When we were in opposition, I remember well when the elective surgery waitlist peaked at 21 500 Western Australians waiting for surgery in this state. That compares very poorly with the 16 000 people, roughly, who are waiting for elective surgery today, notwithstanding increased demand. We have dramatically cut the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The actual figures that were referred to in the newspaper article go back to the high point. In fact, I think it is a low point, but it is a high point in numbers. Under the Liberal government in this state, 21 546 people were waiting for elective surgery in July 1999. The current figure is 16 310. That is a dramatic reduction of more than 5 000 fewer Western Australians waiting for surgery. The second question that was asked by the member for Dawesville relates to a reduction in the amount of surgery undertaken over the past two years. There was a reduction in the number of admissions for elective surgery to the tertiary and non-tertiary public hospitals of 2 134 between January 2002 and December 2004. If we include waitlist admissions for elective surgery from Peel and Joondalup for the same period, the reduction is considerably less. Dr K.D. Hames : You haven’t answered the question, have you? Mr J.A. McGINTY : Yes, I have. I refer to the supplementary information. So that the member for Dawesville knows technically what it means, I point out that where the words “Tertiary and Non tertiary hospitals only” appear in the heading to the answer, that does not, generally speaking, include the privately managed public hospitals. It relates to the other two that are traditionally measured. Therefore, we have provided that information in that technical form for the member. Finally, the reason that we have put $40 million more into elective surgery over the next four-year term of this government is to make sure that we continue to drive the elective surgery waitlist down. I am confident that, with a range of initiatives, that waitlist will continue to cascade down, as it has during the course of this government’s term, and it will make the figure of 21 500 Western Australian citizens who were waiting for elective surgery under the member’s government look very poor indeed.
(2) Is he aware that the figures show a reduction of more than 2 000 surgical cases over the past two years? (3) Is he aware that the reasons most of the patients were taken off the waiting list were other than for surgery? (4) Will he now apologise for misleading the house? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(4) That is a good try. Unfortunately, the matter is not well understood by the member for Dawesville. Let me explain: when we came to government, the figures for elective surgery waitlists for the privately managed public hospitals were not included in the total figures. Therefore, that gave quite a misleading impression. That is a situation which was raised on a number of occasions and which I have now reversed. When we now publish waitlist figures, they refer to all hospitals in the metropolitan area that have a public connection; that is, the tertiary hospitals, the government secondary hospitals and the privately managed public hospitals of Joondalup and Peel. Unfortunately, all those figures do not go back to 2001, when we came to office. Dr K.D. Hames : My question refers to the past two years. Mr J.A. McGINTY : Let me explain this point. Not all figures are uniform in the comparison of like with like, because the earlier figures did not include Joondalup and Peel. When we were putting together the answer to the question arising out of the estimates committee hearing by way of the supplementary information sought by the member for Dawesville, we had to make an adjustment. We needed to have a like-with-like comparison, but we could not include some of the Joondalup and Peel figures because they either did not exist or did not uniformly exist in a way that could be sensibly added to the figures. As was stated at the estimates committee hearing, there has been a decline in the number of patients on the acute public and privately managed waitlists from 18 926 people on 1 January 2001 to 15 841 people on 1 January 2005. The figures show a significant decline in the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The newspaper article to which the member for Dawesville referred goes back a little further. When we were in opposition, I remember well when the elective surgery waitlist peaked at 21 500 Western Australians waiting for surgery in this state. That compares very poorly with the 16 000 people, roughly, who are waiting for elective surgery today, notwithstanding increased demand. We have dramatically cut the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The actual figures that were referred to in the newspaper article go back to the high point. In fact, I think it is a low point, but it is a high point in numbers. Under the Liberal government in this state, 21 546 people were waiting for elective surgery in July 1999. The current figure is 16 310. That is a dramatic reduction of more than 5 000 fewer Western Australians waiting for surgery. The second question that was asked by the member for Dawesville relates to a reduction in the amount of surgery undertaken over the past two years. There was a reduction in the number of admissions for elective surgery to the tertiary and non-tertiary public hospitals of 2 134 between January 2002 and December 2004. If we include waitlist admissions for elective surgery from Peel and Joondalup for the same period, the reduction is considerably less. Dr K.D. Hames : You haven’t answered the question, have you? Mr J.A. McGINTY : Yes, I have. I refer to the supplementary information. So that the member for Dawesville knows technically what it means, I point out that where the words “Tertiary and Non tertiary hospitals only” appear in the heading to the answer, that does not, generally speaking, include the privately managed public hospitals. It relates to the other two that are traditionally measured. Therefore, we have provided that information in that technical form for the member. Finally, the reason that we have put $40 million more into elective surgery over the next four-year term of this government is to make sure that we continue to drive the elective surgery waitlist down. I am confident that, with a range of initiatives, that waitlist will continue to cascade down, as it has during the course of this government’s term, and it will make the figure of 21 500 Western Australian citizens who were waiting for elective surgery under the member’s government look very poor indeed.
(3) Is he aware that the reasons most of the patients were taken off the waiting list were other than for surgery? (4) Will he now apologise for misleading the house? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(4) That is a good try. Unfortunately, the matter is not well understood by the member for Dawesville. Let me explain: when we came to government, the figures for elective surgery waitlists for the privately managed public hospitals were not included in the total figures. Therefore, that gave quite a misleading impression. That is a situation which was raised on a number of occasions and which I have now reversed. When we now publish waitlist figures, they refer to all hospitals in the metropolitan area that have a public connection; that is, the tertiary hospitals, the government secondary hospitals and the privately managed public hospitals of Joondalup and Peel. Unfortunately, all those figures do not go back to 2001, when we came to office. Dr K.D. Hames : My question refers to the past two years. Mr J.A. McGINTY : Let me explain this point. Not all figures are uniform in the comparison of like with like, because the earlier figures did not include Joondalup and Peel. When we were putting together the answer to the question arising out of the estimates committee hearing by way of the supplementary information sought by the member for Dawesville, we had to make an adjustment. We needed to have a like-with-like comparison, but we could not include some of the Joondalup and Peel figures because they either did not exist or did not uniformly exist in a way that could be sensibly added to the figures. As was stated at the estimates committee hearing, there has been a decline in the number of patients on the acute public and privately managed waitlists from 18 926 people on 1 January 2001 to 15 841 people on 1 January 2005. The figures show a significant decline in the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The newspaper article to which the member for Dawesville referred goes back a little further. When we were in opposition, I remember well when the elective surgery waitlist peaked at 21 500 Western Australians waiting for surgery in this state. That compares very poorly with the 16 000 people, roughly, who are waiting for elective surgery today, notwithstanding increased demand. We have dramatically cut the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The actual figures that were referred to in the newspaper article go back to the high point. In fact, I think it is a low point, but it is a high point in numbers. Under the Liberal government in this state, 21 546 people were waiting for elective surgery in July 1999. The current figure is 16 310. That is a dramatic reduction of more than 5 000 fewer Western Australians waiting for surgery. The second question that was asked by the member for Dawesville relates to a reduction in the amount of surgery undertaken over the past two years. There was a reduction in the number of admissions for elective surgery to the tertiary and non-tertiary public hospitals of 2 134 between January 2002 and December 2004. If we include waitlist admissions for elective surgery from Peel and Joondalup for the same period, the reduction is considerably less. Dr K.D. Hames : You haven’t answered the question, have you? Mr J.A. McGINTY : Yes, I have. I refer to the supplementary information. So that the member for Dawesville knows technically what it means, I point out that where the words “Tertiary and Non tertiary hospitals only” appear in the heading to the answer, that does not, generally speaking, include the privately managed public hospitals. It relates to the other two that are traditionally measured. Therefore, we have provided that information in that technical form for the member. Finally, the reason that we have put $40 million more into elective surgery over the next four-year term of this government is to make sure that we continue to drive the elective surgery waitlist down. I am confident that, with a range of initiatives, that waitlist will continue to cascade down, as it has during the course of this government’s term, and it will make the figure of 21 500 Western Australian citizens who were waiting for elective surgery under the member’s government look very poor indeed.
(4) Will he now apologise for misleading the house? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(4) That is a good try. Unfortunately, the matter is not well understood by the member for Dawesville. Let me explain: when we came to government, the figures for elective surgery waitlists for the privately managed public hospitals were not included in the total figures. Therefore, that gave quite a misleading impression. That is a situation which was raised on a number of occasions and which I have now reversed. When we now publish waitlist figures, they refer to all hospitals in the metropolitan area that have a public connection; that is, the tertiary hospitals, the government secondary hospitals and the privately managed public hospitals of Joondalup and Peel. Unfortunately, all those figures do not go back to 2001, when we came to office. Dr K.D. Hames : My question refers to the past two years. Mr J.A. McGINTY : Let me explain this point. Not all figures are uniform in the comparison of like with like, because the earlier figures did not include Joondalup and Peel. When we were putting together the answer to the question arising out of the estimates committee hearing by way of the supplementary information sought by the member for Dawesville, we had to make an adjustment. We needed to have a like-with-like comparison, but we could not include some of the Joondalup and Peel figures because they either did not exist or did not uniformly exist in a way that could be sensibly added to the figures. As was stated at the estimates committee hearing, there has been a decline in the number of patients on the acute public and privately managed waitlists from 18 926 people on 1 January 2001 to 15 841 people on 1 January 2005. The figures show a significant decline in the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The newspaper article to which the member for Dawesville referred goes back a little further. When we were in opposition, I remember well when the elective surgery waitlist peaked at 21 500 Western Australians waiting for surgery in this state. That compares very poorly with the 16 000 people, roughly, who are waiting for elective surgery today, notwithstanding increased demand. We have dramatically cut the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The actual figures that were referred to in the newspaper article go back to the high point. In fact, I think it is a low point, but it is a high point in numbers. Under the Liberal government in this state, 21 546 people were waiting for elective surgery in July 1999. The current figure is 16 310. That is a dramatic reduction of more than 5 000 fewer Western Australians waiting for surgery. The second question that was asked by the member for Dawesville relates to a reduction in the amount of surgery undertaken over the past two years. There was a reduction in the number of admissions for elective surgery to the tertiary and non-tertiary public hospitals of 2 134 between January 2002 and December 2004. If we include waitlist admissions for elective surgery from Peel and Joondalup for the same period, the reduction is considerably less. Dr K.D. Hames : You haven’t answered the question, have you? Mr J.A. McGINTY : Yes, I have. I refer to the supplementary information. So that the member for Dawesville knows technically what it means, I point out that where the words “Tertiary and Non tertiary hospitals only” appear in the heading to the answer, that does not, generally speaking, include the privately managed public hospitals. It relates to the other two that are traditionally measured. Therefore, we have provided that information in that technical form for the member. Finally, the reason that we have put $40 million more into elective surgery over the next four-year term of this government is to make sure that we continue to drive the elective surgery waitlist down. I am confident that, with a range of initiatives, that waitlist will continue to cascade down, as it has during the course of this government’s term, and it will make the figure of 21 500 Western Australian citizens who were waiting for elective surgery under the member’s government look very poor indeed.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(4) That is a good try. Unfortunately, the matter is not well understood by the member for Dawesville. Let me explain: when we came to government, the figures for elective surgery waitlists for the privately managed public hospitals were not included in the total figures. Therefore, that gave quite a misleading impression. That is a situation which was raised on a number of occasions and which I have now reversed. When we now publish waitlist figures, they refer to all hospitals in the metropolitan area that have a public connection; that is, the tertiary hospitals, the government secondary hospitals and the privately managed public hospitals of Joondalup and Peel. Unfortunately, all those figures do not go back to 2001, when we came to office. Dr K.D. Hames : My question refers to the past two years. Mr J.A. McGINTY : Let me explain this point. Not all figures are uniform in the comparison of like with like, because the earlier figures did not include Joondalup and Peel. When we were putting together the answer to the question arising out of the estimates committee hearing by way of the supplementary information sought by the member for Dawesville, we had to make an adjustment. We needed to have a like-with-like comparison, but we could not include some of the Joondalup and Peel figures because they either did not exist or did not uniformly exist in a way that could be sensibly added to the figures. As was stated at the estimates committee hearing, there has been a decline in the number of patients on the acute public and privately managed waitlists from 18 926 people on 1 January 2001 to 15 841 people on 1 January 2005. The figures show a significant decline in the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The newspaper article to which the member for Dawesville referred goes back a little further. When we were in opposition, I remember well when the elective surgery waitlist peaked at 21 500 Western Australians waiting for surgery in this state. That compares very poorly with the 16 000 people, roughly, who are waiting for elective surgery today, notwithstanding increased demand. We have dramatically cut the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The actual figures that were referred to in the newspaper article go back to the high point. In fact, I think it is a low point, but it is a high point in numbers. Under the Liberal government in this state, 21 546 people were waiting for elective surgery in July 1999. The current figure is 16 310. That is a dramatic reduction of more than 5 000 fewer Western Australians waiting for surgery. The second question that was asked by the member for Dawesville relates to a reduction in the amount of surgery undertaken over the past two years. There was a reduction in the number of admissions for elective surgery to the tertiary and non-tertiary public hospitals of 2 134 between January 2002 and December 2004. If we include waitlist admissions for elective surgery from Peel and Joondalup for the same period, the reduction is considerably less. Dr K.D. Hames : You haven’t answered the question, have you? Mr J.A. McGINTY : Yes, I have. I refer to the supplementary information. So that the member for Dawesville knows technically what it means, I point out that where the words “Tertiary and Non tertiary hospitals only” appear in the heading to the answer, that does not, generally speaking, include the privately managed public hospitals. It relates to the other two that are traditionally measured. Therefore, we have provided that information in that technical form for the member. Finally, the reason that we have put $40 million more into elective surgery over the next four-year term of this government is to make sure that we continue to drive the elective surgery waitlist down. I am confident that, with a range of initiatives, that waitlist will continue to cascade down, as it has during the course of this government’s term, and it will make the figure of 21 500 Western Australian citizens who were waiting for elective surgery under the member’s government look very poor indeed.
(1)-(4) That is a good try. Unfortunately, the matter is not well understood by the member for Dawesville. Let me explain: when we came to government, the figures for elective surgery waitlists for the privately managed public hospitals were not included in the total figures. Therefore, that gave quite a misleading impression. That is a situation which was raised on a number of occasions and which I have now reversed. When we now publish waitlist figures, they refer to all hospitals in the metropolitan area that have a public connection; that is, the tertiary hospitals, the government secondary hospitals and the privately managed public hospitals of Joondalup and Peel. Unfortunately, all those figures do not go back to 2001, when we came to office. Dr K.D. Hames : My question refers to the past two years. Mr J.A. McGINTY : Let me explain this point. Not all figures are uniform in the comparison of like with like, because the earlier figures did not include Joondalup and Peel. When we were putting together the answer to the question arising out of the estimates committee hearing by way of the supplementary information sought by the member for Dawesville, we had to make an adjustment. We needed to have a like-with-like comparison, but we could not include some of the Joondalup and Peel figures because they either did not exist or did not uniformly exist in a way that could be sensibly added to the figures. As was stated at the estimates committee hearing, there has been a decline in the number of patients on the acute public and privately managed waitlists from 18 926 people on 1 January 2001 to 15 841 people on 1 January 2005. The figures show a significant decline in the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The newspaper article to which the member for Dawesville referred goes back a little further. When we were in opposition, I remember well when the elective surgery waitlist peaked at 21 500 Western Australians waiting for surgery in this state. That compares very poorly with the 16 000 people, roughly, who are waiting for elective surgery today, notwithstanding increased demand. We have dramatically cut the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The actual figures that were referred to in the newspaper article go back to the high point. In fact, I think it is a low point, but it is a high point in numbers. Under the Liberal government in this state, 21 546 people were waiting for elective surgery in July 1999. The current figure is 16 310. That is a dramatic reduction of more than 5 000 fewer Western Australians waiting for surgery. The second question that was asked by the member for Dawesville relates to a reduction in the amount of surgery undertaken over the past two years. There was a reduction in the number of admissions for elective surgery to the tertiary and non-tertiary public hospitals of 2 134 between January 2002 and December 2004. If we include waitlist admissions for elective surgery from Peel and Joondalup for the same period, the reduction is considerably less. Dr K.D. Hames : You haven’t answered the question, have you? Mr J.A. McGINTY : Yes, I have. I refer to the supplementary information. So that the member for Dawesville knows technically what it means, I point out that where the words “Tertiary and Non tertiary hospitals only” appear in the heading to the answer, that does not, generally speaking, include the privately managed public hospitals. It relates to the other two that are traditionally measured. Therefore, we have provided that information in that technical form for the member. Finally, the reason that we have put $40 million more into elective surgery over the next four-year term of this government is to make sure that we continue to drive the elective surgery waitlist down. I am confident that, with a range of initiatives, that waitlist will continue to cascade down, as it has during the course of this government’s term, and it will make the figure of 21 500 Western Australian citizens who were waiting for elective surgery under the member’s government look very poor indeed.
Dr K.D. Hames : My question refers to the past two years. Mr J.A. McGINTY : Let me explain this point. Not all figures are uniform in the comparison of like with like, because the earlier figures did not include Joondalup and Peel. When we were putting together the answer to the question arising out of the estimates committee hearing by way of the supplementary information sought by the member for Dawesville, we had to make an adjustment. We needed to have a like-with-like comparison, but we could not include some of the Joondalup and Peel figures because they either did not exist or did not uniformly exist in a way that could be sensibly added to the figures. As was stated at the estimates committee hearing, there has been a decline in the number of patients on the acute public and privately managed waitlists from 18 926 people on 1 January 2001 to 15 841 people on 1 January 2005. The figures show a significant decline in the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The newspaper article to which the member for Dawesville referred goes back a little further. When we were in opposition, I remember well when the elective surgery waitlist peaked at 21 500 Western Australians waiting for surgery in this state. That compares very poorly with the 16 000 people, roughly, who are waiting for elective surgery today, notwithstanding increased demand. We have dramatically cut the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The actual figures that were referred to in the newspaper article go back to the high point. In fact, I think it is a low point, but it is a high point in numbers. Under the Liberal government in this state, 21 546 people were waiting for elective surgery in July 1999. The current figure is 16 310. That is a dramatic reduction of more than 5 000 fewer Western Australians waiting for surgery. The second question that was asked by the member for Dawesville relates to a reduction in the amount of surgery undertaken over the past two years. There was a reduction in the number of admissions for elective surgery to the tertiary and non-tertiary public hospitals of 2 134 between January 2002 and December 2004. If we include waitlist admissions for elective surgery from Peel and Joondalup for the same period, the reduction is considerably less. Dr K.D. Hames : You haven’t answered the question, have you? Mr J.A. McGINTY : Yes, I have. I refer to the supplementary information. So that the member for Dawesville knows technically what it means, I point out that where the words “Tertiary and Non tertiary hospitals only” appear in the heading to the answer, that does not, generally speaking, include the privately managed public hospitals. It relates to the other two that are traditionally measured. Therefore, we have provided that information in that technical form for the member. Finally, the reason that we have put $40 million more into elective surgery over the next four-year term of this government is to make sure that we continue to drive the elective surgery waitlist down. I am confident that, with a range of initiatives, that waitlist will continue to cascade down, as it has during the course of this government’s term, and it will make the figure of 21 500 Western Australian citizens who were waiting for elective surgery under the member’s government look very poor indeed.
Mr J.A. McGINTY : Let me explain this point. Not all figures are uniform in the comparison of like with like, because the earlier figures did not include Joondalup and Peel. When we were putting together the answer to the question arising out of the estimates committee hearing by way of the supplementary information sought by the member for Dawesville, we had to make an adjustment. We needed to have a like-with-like comparison, but we could not include some of the Joondalup and Peel figures because they either did not exist or did not uniformly exist in a way that could be sensibly added to the figures. As was stated at the estimates committee hearing, there has been a decline in the number of patients on the acute public and privately managed waitlists from 18 926 people on 1 January 2001 to 15 841 people on 1 January 2005. The figures show a significant decline in the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The newspaper article to which the member for Dawesville referred goes back a little further. When we were in opposition, I remember well when the elective surgery waitlist peaked at 21 500 Western Australians waiting for surgery in this state. That compares very poorly with the 16 000 people, roughly, who are waiting for elective surgery today, notwithstanding increased demand. We have dramatically cut the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The actual figures that were referred to in the newspaper article go back to the high point. In fact, I think it is a low point, but it is a high point in numbers. Under the Liberal government in this state, 21 546 people were waiting for elective surgery in July 1999. The current figure is 16 310. That is a dramatic reduction of more than 5 000 fewer Western Australians waiting for surgery. The second question that was asked by the member for Dawesville relates to a reduction in the amount of surgery undertaken over the past two years. There was a reduction in the number of admissions for elective surgery to the tertiary and non-tertiary public hospitals of 2 134 between January 2002 and December 2004. If we include waitlist admissions for elective surgery from Peel and Joondalup for the same period, the reduction is considerably less. Dr K.D. Hames : You haven’t answered the question, have you? Mr J.A. McGINTY : Yes, I have. I refer to the supplementary information. So that the member for Dawesville knows technically what it means, I point out that where the words “Tertiary and Non tertiary hospitals only” appear in the heading to the answer, that does not, generally speaking, include the privately managed public hospitals. It relates to the other two that are traditionally measured. Therefore, we have provided that information in that technical form for the member. Finally, the reason that we have put $40 million more into elective surgery over the next four-year term of this government is to make sure that we continue to drive the elective surgery waitlist down. I am confident that, with a range of initiatives, that waitlist will continue to cascade down, as it has during the course of this government’s term, and it will make the figure of 21 500 Western Australian citizens who were waiting for elective surgery under the member’s government look very poor indeed.
When we were putting together the answer to the question arising out of the estimates committee hearing by way of the supplementary information sought by the member for Dawesville, we had to make an adjustment. We needed to have a like-with-like comparison, but we could not include some of the Joondalup and Peel figures because they either did not exist or did not uniformly exist in a way that could be sensibly added to the figures. As was stated at the estimates committee hearing, there has been a decline in the number of patients on the acute public and privately managed waitlists from 18 926 people on 1 January 2001 to 15 841 people on 1 January 2005. The figures show a significant decline in the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The newspaper article to which the member for Dawesville referred goes back a little further. When we were in opposition, I remember well when the elective surgery waitlist peaked at 21 500 Western Australians waiting for surgery in this state. That compares very poorly with the 16 000 people, roughly, who are waiting for elective surgery today, notwithstanding increased demand. We have dramatically cut the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The actual figures that were referred to in the newspaper article go back to the high point. In fact, I think it is a low point, but it is a high point in numbers. Under the Liberal government in this state, 21 546 people were waiting for elective surgery in July 1999. The current figure is 16 310. That is a dramatic reduction of more than 5 000 fewer Western Australians waiting for surgery. The second question that was asked by the member for Dawesville relates to a reduction in the amount of surgery undertaken over the past two years. There was a reduction in the number of admissions for elective surgery to the tertiary and non-tertiary public hospitals of 2 134 between January 2002 and December 2004. If we include waitlist admissions for elective surgery from Peel and Joondalup for the same period, the reduction is considerably less. Dr K.D. Hames : You haven’t answered the question, have you? Mr J.A. McGINTY : Yes, I have. I refer to the supplementary information. So that the member for Dawesville knows technically what it means, I point out that where the words “Tertiary and Non tertiary hospitals only” appear in the heading to the answer, that does not, generally speaking, include the privately managed public hospitals. It relates to the other two that are traditionally measured. Therefore, we have provided that information in that technical form for the member. Finally, the reason that we have put $40 million more into elective surgery over the next four-year term of this government is to make sure that we continue to drive the elective surgery waitlist down. I am confident that, with a range of initiatives, that waitlist will continue to cascade down, as it has during the course of this government’s term, and it will make the figure of 21 500 Western Australian citizens who were waiting for elective surgery under the member’s government look very poor indeed.
As was stated at the estimates committee hearing, there has been a decline in the number of patients on the acute public and privately managed waitlists from 18 926 people on 1 January 2001 to 15 841 people on 1 January 2005. The figures show a significant decline in the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The newspaper article to which the member for Dawesville referred goes back a little further. When we were in opposition, I remember well when the elective surgery waitlist peaked at 21 500 Western Australians waiting for surgery in this state. That compares very poorly with the 16 000 people, roughly, who are waiting for elective surgery today, notwithstanding increased demand. We have dramatically cut the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The actual figures that were referred to in the newspaper article go back to the high point. In fact, I think it is a low point, but it is a high point in numbers. Under the Liberal government in this state, 21 546 people were waiting for elective surgery in July 1999. The current figure is 16 310. That is a dramatic reduction of more than 5 000 fewer Western Australians waiting for surgery. The second question that was asked by the member for Dawesville relates to a reduction in the amount of surgery undertaken over the past two years. There was a reduction in the number of admissions for elective surgery to the tertiary and non-tertiary public hospitals of 2 134 between January 2002 and December 2004. If we include waitlist admissions for elective surgery from Peel and Joondalup for the same period, the reduction is considerably less. Dr K.D. Hames : You haven’t answered the question, have you? Mr J.A. McGINTY : Yes, I have. I refer to the supplementary information. So that the member for Dawesville knows technically what it means, I point out that where the words “Tertiary and Non tertiary hospitals only” appear in the heading to the answer, that does not, generally speaking, include the privately managed public hospitals. It relates to the other two that are traditionally measured. Therefore, we have provided that information in that technical form for the member. Finally, the reason that we have put $40 million more into elective surgery over the next four-year term of this government is to make sure that we continue to drive the elective surgery waitlist down. I am confident that, with a range of initiatives, that waitlist will continue to cascade down, as it has during the course of this government’s term, and it will make the figure of 21 500 Western Australian citizens who were waiting for elective surgery under the member’s government look very poor indeed.
The second question that was asked by the member for Dawesville relates to a reduction in the amount of surgery undertaken over the past two years. There was a reduction in the number of admissions for elective surgery to the tertiary and non-tertiary public hospitals of 2 134 between January 2002 and December 2004. If we include waitlist admissions for elective surgery from Peel and Joondalup for the same period, the reduction is considerably less. Dr K.D. Hames : You haven’t answered the question, have you? Mr J.A. McGINTY : Yes, I have. I refer to the supplementary information. So that the member for Dawesville knows technically what it means, I point out that where the words “Tertiary and Non tertiary hospitals only” appear in the heading to the answer, that does not, generally speaking, include the privately managed public hospitals. It relates to the other two that are traditionally measured. Therefore, we have provided that information in that technical form for the member. Finally, the reason that we have put $40 million more into elective surgery over the next four-year term of this government is to make sure that we continue to drive the elective surgery waitlist down. I am confident that, with a range of initiatives, that waitlist will continue to cascade down, as it has during the course of this government’s term, and it will make the figure of 21 500 Western Australian citizens who were waiting for elective surgery under the member’s government look very poor indeed.
Dr K.D. Hames : You haven’t answered the question, have you? Mr J.A. McGINTY : Yes, I have. I refer to the supplementary information. So that the member for Dawesville knows technically what it means, I point out that where the words “Tertiary and Non tertiary hospitals only” appear in the heading to the answer, that does not, generally speaking, include the privately managed public hospitals. It relates to the other two that are traditionally measured. Therefore, we have provided that information in that technical form for the member. Finally, the reason that we have put $40 million more into elective surgery over the next four-year term of this government is to make sure that we continue to drive the elective surgery waitlist down. I am confident that, with a range of initiatives, that waitlist will continue to cascade down, as it has during the course of this government’s term, and it will make the figure of 21 500 Western Australian citizens who were waiting for elective surgery under the member’s government look very poor indeed.
Mr J.A. McGINTY : Yes, I have. I refer to the supplementary information. So that the member for Dawesville knows technically what it means, I point out that where the words “Tertiary and Non tertiary hospitals only” appear in the heading to the answer, that does not, generally speaking, include the privately managed public hospitals. It relates to the other two that are traditionally measured. Therefore, we have provided that information in that technical form for the member. Finally, the reason that we have put $40 million more into elective surgery over the next four-year term of this government is to make sure that we continue to drive the elective surgery waitlist down. I am confident that, with a range of initiatives, that waitlist will continue to cascade down, as it has during the course of this government’s term, and it will make the figure of 21 500 Western Australian citizens who were waiting for elective surgery under the member’s government look very poor indeed.
Finally, the reason that we have put $40 million more into elective surgery over the next four-year term of this government is to make sure that we continue to drive the elective surgery waitlist down. I am confident that, with a range of initiatives, that waitlist will continue to cascade down, as it has during the course of this government’s term, and it will make the figure of 21 500 Western Australian citizens who were waiting for elective surgery under the member’s government look very poor indeed.
(1) Is the minister aware that these figures were provided by him, not the opposition, as supplementary information to the estimates committees and that the figures from 2003 include Peel and Joondalup hospitals? (2) Is he aware that the figures show a reduction of more than 2 000 surgical cases over the past two years? (3) Is he aware that the reasons most of the patients were taken off the waiting list were other than for surgery? (4) Will he now apologise for misleading the house? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(4) That is a good try. Unfortunately, the matter is not well understood by the member for Dawesville. Let me explain: when we came to government, the figures for elective surgery waitlists for the privately managed public hospitals were not included in the total figures. Therefore, that gave quite a misleading impression. That is a situation which was raised on a number of occasions and which I have now reversed. When we now publish waitlist figures, they refer to all hospitals in the metropolitan area that have a public connection; that is, the tertiary hospitals, the government secondary hospitals and the privately managed public hospitals of Joondalup and Peel. Unfortunately, all those figures do not go back to 2001, when we came to office. Dr K.D. Hames : My question refers to the past two years. Mr J.A. McGINTY : Let me explain this point. Not all figures are uniform in the comparison of like with like, because the earlier figures did not include Joondalup and Peel. When we were putting together the answer to the question arising out of the estimates committee hearing by way of the supplementary information sought by the member for Dawesville, we had to make an adjustment. We needed to have a like-with-like comparison, but we could not include some of the Joondalup and Peel figures because they either did not exist or did not uniformly exist in a way that could be sensibly added to the figures. As was stated at the estimates committee hearing, there has been a decline in the number of patients on the acute public and privately managed waitlists from 18 926 people on 1 January 2001 to 15 841 people on 1 January 2005. The figures show a significant decline in the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The newspaper article to which the member for Dawesville referred goes back a little further. When we were in opposition, I remember well when the elective surgery waitlist peaked at 21 500 Western Australians waiting for surgery in this state. That compares very poorly with the 16 000 people, roughly, who are waiting for elective surgery today, notwithstanding increased demand. We have dramatically cut the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The actual figures that were referred to in the newspaper article go back to the high point. In fact, I think it is a low point, but it is a high point in numbers. Under the Liberal government in this state, 21 546 people were waiting for elective surgery in July 1999. The current figure is 16 310. That is a dramatic reduction of more than 5 000 fewer Western Australians waiting for surgery. The second question that was asked by the member for Dawesville relates to a reduction in the amount of surgery undertaken over the past two years. There was a reduction in the number of admissions for elective surgery to the tertiary and non-tertiary public hospitals of 2 134 between January 2002 and December 2004. If we include waitlist admissions for elective surgery from Peel and Joondalup for the same period, the reduction is considerably less. Dr K.D. Hames : You haven’t answered the question, have you? Mr J.A. McGINTY : Yes, I have. I refer to the supplementary information. So that the member for Dawesville knows technically what it means, I point out that where the words “Tertiary and Non tertiary hospitals only” appear in the heading to the answer, that does not, generally speaking, include the privately managed public hospitals. It relates to the other two that are traditionally measured. Therefore, we have provided that information in that technical form for the member. Finally, the reason that we have put $40 million more into elective surgery over the next four-year term of this government is to make sure that we continue to drive the elective surgery waitlist down. I am confident that, with a range of initiatives, that waitlist will continue to cascade down, as it has during the course of this government’s term, and it will make the figure of 21 500 Western Australian citizens who were waiting for elective surgery under the member’s government look very poor indeed.
(2) Is he aware that the figures show a reduction of more than 2 000 surgical cases over the past two years? (3) Is he aware that the reasons most of the patients were taken off the waiting list were other than for surgery? (4) Will he now apologise for misleading the house? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(4) That is a good try. Unfortunately, the matter is not well understood by the member for Dawesville. Let me explain: when we came to government, the figures for elective surgery waitlists for the privately managed public hospitals were not included in the total figures. Therefore, that gave quite a misleading impression. That is a situation which was raised on a number of occasions and which I have now reversed. When we now publish waitlist figures, they refer to all hospitals in the metropolitan area that have a public connection; that is, the tertiary hospitals, the government secondary hospitals and the privately managed public hospitals of Joondalup and Peel. Unfortunately, all those figures do not go back to 2001, when we came to office. Dr K.D. Hames : My question refers to the past two years. Mr J.A. McGINTY : Let me explain this point. Not all figures are uniform in the comparison of like with like, because the earlier figures did not include Joondalup and Peel. When we were putting together the answer to the question arising out of the estimates committee hearing by way of the supplementary information sought by the member for Dawesville, we had to make an adjustment. We needed to have a like-with-like comparison, but we could not include some of the Joondalup and Peel figures because they either did not exist or did not uniformly exist in a way that could be sensibly added to the figures. As was stated at the estimates committee hearing, there has been a decline in the number of patients on the acute public and privately managed waitlists from 18 926 people on 1 January 2001 to 15 841 people on 1 January 2005. The figures show a significant decline in the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The newspaper article to which the member for Dawesville referred goes back a little further. When we were in opposition, I remember well when the elective surgery waitlist peaked at 21 500 Western Australians waiting for surgery in this state. That compares very poorly with the 16 000 people, roughly, who are waiting for elective surgery today, notwithstanding increased demand. We have dramatically cut the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The actual figures that were referred to in the newspaper article go back to the high point. In fact, I think it is a low point, but it is a high point in numbers. Under the Liberal government in this state, 21 546 people were waiting for elective surgery in July 1999. The current figure is 16 310. That is a dramatic reduction of more than 5 000 fewer Western Australians waiting for surgery. The second question that was asked by the member for Dawesville relates to a reduction in the amount of surgery undertaken over the past two years. There was a reduction in the number of admissions for elective surgery to the tertiary and non-tertiary public hospitals of 2 134 between January 2002 and December 2004. If we include waitlist admissions for elective surgery from Peel and Joondalup for the same period, the reduction is considerably less. Dr K.D. Hames : You haven’t answered the question, have you? Mr J.A. McGINTY : Yes, I have. I refer to the supplementary information. So that the member for Dawesville knows technically what it means, I point out that where the words “Tertiary and Non tertiary hospitals only” appear in the heading to the answer, that does not, generally speaking, include the privately managed public hospitals. It relates to the other two that are traditionally measured. Therefore, we have provided that information in that technical form for the member. Finally, the reason that we have put $40 million more into elective surgery over the next four-year term of this government is to make sure that we continue to drive the elective surgery waitlist down. I am confident that, with a range of initiatives, that waitlist will continue to cascade down, as it has during the course of this government’s term, and it will make the figure of 21 500 Western Australian citizens who were waiting for elective surgery under the member’s government look very poor indeed.
(3) Is he aware that the reasons most of the patients were taken off the waiting list were other than for surgery? (4) Will he now apologise for misleading the house? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(4) That is a good try. Unfortunately, the matter is not well understood by the member for Dawesville. Let me explain: when we came to government, the figures for elective surgery waitlists for the privately managed public hospitals were not included in the total figures. Therefore, that gave quite a misleading impression. That is a situation which was raised on a number of occasions and which I have now reversed. When we now publish waitlist figures, they refer to all hospitals in the metropolitan area that have a public connection; that is, the tertiary hospitals, the government secondary hospitals and the privately managed public hospitals of Joondalup and Peel. Unfortunately, all those figures do not go back to 2001, when we came to office. Dr K.D. Hames : My question refers to the past two years. Mr J.A. McGINTY : Let me explain this point. Not all figures are uniform in the comparison of like with like, because the earlier figures did not include Joondalup and Peel. When we were putting together the answer to the question arising out of the estimates committee hearing by way of the supplementary information sought by the member for Dawesville, we had to make an adjustment. We needed to have a like-with-like comparison, but we could not include some of the Joondalup and Peel figures because they either did not exist or did not uniformly exist in a way that could be sensibly added to the figures. As was stated at the estimates committee hearing, there has been a decline in the number of patients on the acute public and privately managed waitlists from 18 926 people on 1 January 2001 to 15 841 people on 1 January 2005. The figures show a significant decline in the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The newspaper article to which the member for Dawesville referred goes back a little further. When we were in opposition, I remember well when the elective surgery waitlist peaked at 21 500 Western Australians waiting for surgery in this state. That compares very poorly with the 16 000 people, roughly, who are waiting for elective surgery today, notwithstanding increased demand. We have dramatically cut the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The actual figures that were referred to in the newspaper article go back to the high point. In fact, I think it is a low point, but it is a high point in numbers. Under the Liberal government in this state, 21 546 people were waiting for elective surgery in July 1999. The current figure is 16 310. That is a dramatic reduction of more than 5 000 fewer Western Australians waiting for surgery. The second question that was asked by the member for Dawesville relates to a reduction in the amount of surgery undertaken over the past two years. There was a reduction in the number of admissions for elective surgery to the tertiary and non-tertiary public hospitals of 2 134 between January 2002 and December 2004. If we include waitlist admissions for elective surgery from Peel and Joondalup for the same period, the reduction is considerably less. Dr K.D. Hames : You haven’t answered the question, have you? Mr J.A. McGINTY : Yes, I have. I refer to the supplementary information. So that the member for Dawesville knows technically what it means, I point out that where the words “Tertiary and Non tertiary hospitals only” appear in the heading to the answer, that does not, generally speaking, include the privately managed public hospitals. It relates to the other two that are traditionally measured. Therefore, we have provided that information in that technical form for the member. Finally, the reason that we have put $40 million more into elective surgery over the next four-year term of this government is to make sure that we continue to drive the elective surgery waitlist down. I am confident that, with a range of initiatives, that waitlist will continue to cascade down, as it has during the course of this government’s term, and it will make the figure of 21 500 Western Australian citizens who were waiting for elective surgery under the member’s government look very poor indeed.
(4) Will he now apologise for misleading the house? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(4) That is a good try. Unfortunately, the matter is not well understood by the member for Dawesville. Let me explain: when we came to government, the figures for elective surgery waitlists for the privately managed public hospitals were not included in the total figures. Therefore, that gave quite a misleading impression. That is a situation which was raised on a number of occasions and which I have now reversed. When we now publish waitlist figures, they refer to all hospitals in the metropolitan area that have a public connection; that is, the tertiary hospitals, the government secondary hospitals and the privately managed public hospitals of Joondalup and Peel. Unfortunately, all those figures do not go back to 2001, when we came to office. Dr K.D. Hames : My question refers to the past two years. Mr J.A. McGINTY : Let me explain this point. Not all figures are uniform in the comparison of like with like, because the earlier figures did not include Joondalup and Peel. When we were putting together the answer to the question arising out of the estimates committee hearing by way of the supplementary information sought by the member for Dawesville, we had to make an adjustment. We needed to have a like-with-like comparison, but we could not include some of the Joondalup and Peel figures because they either did not exist or did not uniformly exist in a way that could be sensibly added to the figures. As was stated at the estimates committee hearing, there has been a decline in the number of patients on the acute public and privately managed waitlists from 18 926 people on 1 January 2001 to 15 841 people on 1 January 2005. The figures show a significant decline in the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The newspaper article to which the member for Dawesville referred goes back a little further. When we were in opposition, I remember well when the elective surgery waitlist peaked at 21 500 Western Australians waiting for surgery in this state. That compares very poorly with the 16 000 people, roughly, who are waiting for elective surgery today, notwithstanding increased demand. We have dramatically cut the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The actual figures that were referred to in the newspaper article go back to the high point. In fact, I think it is a low point, but it is a high point in numbers. Under the Liberal government in this state, 21 546 people were waiting for elective surgery in July 1999. The current figure is 16 310. That is a dramatic reduction of more than 5 000 fewer Western Australians waiting for surgery. The second question that was asked by the member for Dawesville relates to a reduction in the amount of surgery undertaken over the past two years. There was a reduction in the number of admissions for elective surgery to the tertiary and non-tertiary public hospitals of 2 134 between January 2002 and December 2004. If we include waitlist admissions for elective surgery from Peel and Joondalup for the same period, the reduction is considerably less. Dr K.D. Hames : You haven’t answered the question, have you? Mr J.A. McGINTY : Yes, I have. I refer to the supplementary information. So that the member for Dawesville knows technically what it means, I point out that where the words “Tertiary and Non tertiary hospitals only” appear in the heading to the answer, that does not, generally speaking, include the privately managed public hospitals. It relates to the other two that are traditionally measured. Therefore, we have provided that information in that technical form for the member. Finally, the reason that we have put $40 million more into elective surgery over the next four-year term of this government is to make sure that we continue to drive the elective surgery waitlist down. I am confident that, with a range of initiatives, that waitlist will continue to cascade down, as it has during the course of this government’s term, and it will make the figure of 21 500 Western Australian citizens who were waiting for elective surgery under the member’s government look very poor indeed.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(4) That is a good try. Unfortunately, the matter is not well understood by the member for Dawesville. Let me explain: when we came to government, the figures for elective surgery waitlists for the privately managed public hospitals were not included in the total figures. Therefore, that gave quite a misleading impression. That is a situation which was raised on a number of occasions and which I have now reversed. When we now publish waitlist figures, they refer to all hospitals in the metropolitan area that have a public connection; that is, the tertiary hospitals, the government secondary hospitals and the privately managed public hospitals of Joondalup and Peel. Unfortunately, all those figures do not go back to 2001, when we came to office. Dr K.D. Hames : My question refers to the past two years. Mr J.A. McGINTY : Let me explain this point. Not all figures are uniform in the comparison of like with like, because the earlier figures did not include Joondalup and Peel. When we were putting together the answer to the question arising out of the estimates committee hearing by way of the supplementary information sought by the member for Dawesville, we had to make an adjustment. We needed to have a like-with-like comparison, but we could not include some of the Joondalup and Peel figures because they either did not exist or did not uniformly exist in a way that could be sensibly added to the figures. As was stated at the estimates committee hearing, there has been a decline in the number of patients on the acute public and privately managed waitlists from 18 926 people on 1 January 2001 to 15 841 people on 1 January 2005. The figures show a significant decline in the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The newspaper article to which the member for Dawesville referred goes back a little further. When we were in opposition, I remember well when the elective surgery waitlist peaked at 21 500 Western Australians waiting for surgery in this state. That compares very poorly with the 16 000 people, roughly, who are waiting for elective surgery today, notwithstanding increased demand. We have dramatically cut the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The actual figures that were referred to in the newspaper article go back to the high point. In fact, I think it is a low point, but it is a high point in numbers. Under the Liberal government in this state, 21 546 people were waiting for elective surgery in July 1999. The current figure is 16 310. That is a dramatic reduction of more than 5 000 fewer Western Australians waiting for surgery. The second question that was asked by the member for Dawesville relates to a reduction in the amount of surgery undertaken over the past two years. There was a reduction in the number of admissions for elective surgery to the tertiary and non-tertiary public hospitals of 2 134 between January 2002 and December 2004. If we include waitlist admissions for elective surgery from Peel and Joondalup for the same period, the reduction is considerably less. Dr K.D. Hames : You haven’t answered the question, have you? Mr J.A. McGINTY : Yes, I have. I refer to the supplementary information. So that the member for Dawesville knows technically what it means, I point out that where the words “Tertiary and Non tertiary hospitals only” appear in the heading to the answer, that does not, generally speaking, include the privately managed public hospitals. It relates to the other two that are traditionally measured. Therefore, we have provided that information in that technical form for the member. Finally, the reason that we have put $40 million more into elective surgery over the next four-year term of this government is to make sure that we continue to drive the elective surgery waitlist down. I am confident that, with a range of initiatives, that waitlist will continue to cascade down, as it has during the course of this government’s term, and it will make the figure of 21 500 Western Australian citizens who were waiting for elective surgery under the member’s government look very poor indeed.
(1)-(4) That is a good try. Unfortunately, the matter is not well understood by the member for Dawesville. Let me explain: when we came to government, the figures for elective surgery waitlists for the privately managed public hospitals were not included in the total figures. Therefore, that gave quite a misleading impression. That is a situation which was raised on a number of occasions and which I have now reversed. When we now publish waitlist figures, they refer to all hospitals in the metropolitan area that have a public connection; that is, the tertiary hospitals, the government secondary hospitals and the privately managed public hospitals of Joondalup and Peel. Unfortunately, all those figures do not go back to 2001, when we came to office. Dr K.D. Hames : My question refers to the past two years. Mr J.A. McGINTY : Let me explain this point. Not all figures are uniform in the comparison of like with like, because the earlier figures did not include Joondalup and Peel. When we were putting together the answer to the question arising out of the estimates committee hearing by way of the supplementary information sought by the member for Dawesville, we had to make an adjustment. We needed to have a like-with-like comparison, but we could not include some of the Joondalup and Peel figures because they either did not exist or did not uniformly exist in a way that could be sensibly added to the figures. As was stated at the estimates committee hearing, there has been a decline in the number of patients on the acute public and privately managed waitlists from 18 926 people on 1 January 2001 to 15 841 people on 1 January 2005. The figures show a significant decline in the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The newspaper article to which the member for Dawesville referred goes back a little further. When we were in opposition, I remember well when the elective surgery waitlist peaked at 21 500 Western Australians waiting for surgery in this state. That compares very poorly with the 16 000 people, roughly, who are waiting for elective surgery today, notwithstanding increased demand. We have dramatically cut the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The actual figures that were referred to in the newspaper article go back to the high point. In fact, I think it is a low point, but it is a high point in numbers. Under the Liberal government in this state, 21 546 people were waiting for elective surgery in July 1999. The current figure is 16 310. That is a dramatic reduction of more than 5 000 fewer Western Australians waiting for surgery. The second question that was asked by the member for Dawesville relates to a reduction in the amount of surgery undertaken over the past two years. There was a reduction in the number of admissions for elective surgery to the tertiary and non-tertiary public hospitals of 2 134 between January 2002 and December 2004. If we include waitlist admissions for elective surgery from Peel and Joondalup for the same period, the reduction is considerably less. Dr K.D. Hames : You haven’t answered the question, have you? Mr J.A. McGINTY : Yes, I have. I refer to the supplementary information. So that the member for Dawesville knows technically what it means, I point out that where the words “Tertiary and Non tertiary hospitals only” appear in the heading to the answer, that does not, generally speaking, include the privately managed public hospitals. It relates to the other two that are traditionally measured. Therefore, we have provided that information in that technical form for the member. Finally, the reason that we have put $40 million more into elective surgery over the next four-year term of this government is to make sure that we continue to drive the elective surgery waitlist down. I am confident that, with a range of initiatives, that waitlist will continue to cascade down, as it has during the course of this government’s term, and it will make the figure of 21 500 Western Australian citizens who were waiting for elective surgery under the member’s government look very poor indeed.
Dr K.D. Hames : My question refers to the past two years. Mr J.A. McGINTY : Let me explain this point. Not all figures are uniform in the comparison of like with like, because the earlier figures did not include Joondalup and Peel. When we were putting together the answer to the question arising out of the estimates committee hearing by way of the supplementary information sought by the member for Dawesville, we had to make an adjustment. We needed to have a like-with-like comparison, but we could not include some of the Joondalup and Peel figures because they either did not exist or did not uniformly exist in a way that could be sensibly added to the figures. As was stated at the estimates committee hearing, there has been a decline in the number of patients on the acute public and privately managed waitlists from 18 926 people on 1 January 2001 to 15 841 people on 1 January 2005. The figures show a significant decline in the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The newspaper article to which the member for Dawesville referred goes back a little further. When we were in opposition, I remember well when the elective surgery waitlist peaked at 21 500 Western Australians waiting for surgery in this state. That compares very poorly with the 16 000 people, roughly, who are waiting for elective surgery today, notwithstanding increased demand. We have dramatically cut the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The actual figures that were referred to in the newspaper article go back to the high point. In fact, I think it is a low point, but it is a high point in numbers. Under the Liberal government in this state, 21 546 people were waiting for elective surgery in July 1999. The current figure is 16 310. That is a dramatic reduction of more than 5 000 fewer Western Australians waiting for surgery. The second question that was asked by the member for Dawesville relates to a reduction in the amount of surgery undertaken over the past two years. There was a reduction in the number of admissions for elective surgery to the tertiary and non-tertiary public hospitals of 2 134 between January 2002 and December 2004. If we include waitlist admissions for elective surgery from Peel and Joondalup for the same period, the reduction is considerably less. Dr K.D. Hames : You haven’t answered the question, have you? Mr J.A. McGINTY : Yes, I have. I refer to the supplementary information. So that the member for Dawesville knows technically what it means, I point out that where the words “Tertiary and Non tertiary hospitals only” appear in the heading to the answer, that does not, generally speaking, include the privately managed public hospitals. It relates to the other two that are traditionally measured. Therefore, we have provided that information in that technical form for the member. Finally, the reason that we have put $40 million more into elective surgery over the next four-year term of this government is to make sure that we continue to drive the elective surgery waitlist down. I am confident that, with a range of initiatives, that waitlist will continue to cascade down, as it has during the course of this government’s term, and it will make the figure of 21 500 Western Australian citizens who were waiting for elective surgery under the member’s government look very poor indeed.
Mr J.A. McGINTY : Let me explain this point. Not all figures are uniform in the comparison of like with like, because the earlier figures did not include Joondalup and Peel. When we were putting together the answer to the question arising out of the estimates committee hearing by way of the supplementary information sought by the member for Dawesville, we had to make an adjustment. We needed to have a like-with-like comparison, but we could not include some of the Joondalup and Peel figures because they either did not exist or did not uniformly exist in a way that could be sensibly added to the figures. As was stated at the estimates committee hearing, there has been a decline in the number of patients on the acute public and privately managed waitlists from 18 926 people on 1 January 2001 to 15 841 people on 1 January 2005. The figures show a significant decline in the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The newspaper article to which the member for Dawesville referred goes back a little further. When we were in opposition, I remember well when the elective surgery waitlist peaked at 21 500 Western Australians waiting for surgery in this state. That compares very poorly with the 16 000 people, roughly, who are waiting for elective surgery today, notwithstanding increased demand. We have dramatically cut the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The actual figures that were referred to in the newspaper article go back to the high point. In fact, I think it is a low point, but it is a high point in numbers. Under the Liberal government in this state, 21 546 people were waiting for elective surgery in July 1999. The current figure is 16 310. That is a dramatic reduction of more than 5 000 fewer Western Australians waiting for surgery. The second question that was asked by the member for Dawesville relates to a reduction in the amount of surgery undertaken over the past two years. There was a reduction in the number of admissions for elective surgery to the tertiary and non-tertiary public hospitals of 2 134 between January 2002 and December 2004. If we include waitlist admissions for elective surgery from Peel and Joondalup for the same period, the reduction is considerably less. Dr K.D. Hames : You haven’t answered the question, have you? Mr J.A. McGINTY : Yes, I have. I refer to the supplementary information. So that the member for Dawesville knows technically what it means, I point out that where the words “Tertiary and Non tertiary hospitals only” appear in the heading to the answer, that does not, generally speaking, include the privately managed public hospitals. It relates to the other two that are traditionally measured. Therefore, we have provided that information in that technical form for the member. Finally, the reason that we have put $40 million more into elective surgery over the next four-year term of this government is to make sure that we continue to drive the elective surgery waitlist down. I am confident that, with a range of initiatives, that waitlist will continue to cascade down, as it has during the course of this government’s term, and it will make the figure of 21 500 Western Australian citizens who were waiting for elective surgery under the member’s government look very poor indeed.
When we were putting together the answer to the question arising out of the estimates committee hearing by way of the supplementary information sought by the member for Dawesville, we had to make an adjustment. We needed to have a like-with-like comparison, but we could not include some of the Joondalup and Peel figures because they either did not exist or did not uniformly exist in a way that could be sensibly added to the figures. As was stated at the estimates committee hearing, there has been a decline in the number of patients on the acute public and privately managed waitlists from 18 926 people on 1 January 2001 to 15 841 people on 1 January 2005. The figures show a significant decline in the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The newspaper article to which the member for Dawesville referred goes back a little further. When we were in opposition, I remember well when the elective surgery waitlist peaked at 21 500 Western Australians waiting for surgery in this state. That compares very poorly with the 16 000 people, roughly, who are waiting for elective surgery today, notwithstanding increased demand. We have dramatically cut the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The actual figures that were referred to in the newspaper article go back to the high point. In fact, I think it is a low point, but it is a high point in numbers. Under the Liberal government in this state, 21 546 people were waiting for elective surgery in July 1999. The current figure is 16 310. That is a dramatic reduction of more than 5 000 fewer Western Australians waiting for surgery. The second question that was asked by the member for Dawesville relates to a reduction in the amount of surgery undertaken over the past two years. There was a reduction in the number of admissions for elective surgery to the tertiary and non-tertiary public hospitals of 2 134 between January 2002 and December 2004. If we include waitlist admissions for elective surgery from Peel and Joondalup for the same period, the reduction is considerably less. Dr K.D. Hames : You haven’t answered the question, have you? Mr J.A. McGINTY : Yes, I have. I refer to the supplementary information. So that the member for Dawesville knows technically what it means, I point out that where the words “Tertiary and Non tertiary hospitals only” appear in the heading to the answer, that does not, generally speaking, include the privately managed public hospitals. It relates to the other two that are traditionally measured. Therefore, we have provided that information in that technical form for the member. Finally, the reason that we have put $40 million more into elective surgery over the next four-year term of this government is to make sure that we continue to drive the elective surgery waitlist down. I am confident that, with a range of initiatives, that waitlist will continue to cascade down, as it has during the course of this government’s term, and it will make the figure of 21 500 Western Australian citizens who were waiting for elective surgery under the member’s government look very poor indeed.
As was stated at the estimates committee hearing, there has been a decline in the number of patients on the acute public and privately managed waitlists from 18 926 people on 1 January 2001 to 15 841 people on 1 January 2005. The figures show a significant decline in the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The newspaper article to which the member for Dawesville referred goes back a little further. When we were in opposition, I remember well when the elective surgery waitlist peaked at 21 500 Western Australians waiting for surgery in this state. That compares very poorly with the 16 000 people, roughly, who are waiting for elective surgery today, notwithstanding increased demand. We have dramatically cut the number of people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The actual figures that were referred to in the newspaper article go back to the high point. In fact, I think it is a low point, but it is a high point in numbers. Under the Liberal government in this state, 21 546 people were waiting for elective surgery in July 1999. The current figure is 16 310. That is a dramatic reduction of more than 5 000 fewer Western Australians waiting for surgery. The second question that was asked by the member for Dawesville relates to a reduction in the amount of surgery undertaken over the past two years. There was a reduction in the number of admissions for elective surgery to the tertiary and non-tertiary public hospitals of 2 134 between January 2002 and December 2004. If we include waitlist admissions for elective surgery from Peel and Joondalup for the same period, the reduction is considerably less. Dr K.D. Hames : You haven’t answered the question, have you? Mr J.A. McGINTY : Yes, I have. I refer to the supplementary information. So that the member for Dawesville knows technically what it means, I point out that where the words “Tertiary and Non tertiary hospitals only” appear in the heading to the answer, that does not, generally speaking, include the privately managed public hospitals. It relates to the other two that are traditionally measured. Therefore, we have provided that information in that technical form for the member. Finally, the reason that we have put $40 million more into elective surgery over the next four-year term of this government is to make sure that we continue to drive the elective surgery waitlist down. I am confident that, with a range of initiatives, that waitlist will continue to cascade down, as it has during the course of this government’s term, and it will make the figure of 21 500 Western Australian citizens who were waiting for elective surgery under the member’s government look very poor indeed.
The second question that was asked by the member for Dawesville relates to a reduction in the amount of surgery undertaken over the past two years. There was a reduction in the number of admissions for elective surgery to the tertiary and non-tertiary public hospitals of 2 134 between January 2002 and December 2004. If we include waitlist admissions for elective surgery from Peel and Joondalup for the same period, the reduction is considerably less. Dr K.D. Hames : You haven’t answered the question, have you? Mr J.A. McGINTY : Yes, I have. I refer to the supplementary information. So that the member for Dawesville knows technically what it means, I point out that where the words “Tertiary and Non tertiary hospitals only” appear in the heading to the answer, that does not, generally speaking, include the privately managed public hospitals. It relates to the other two that are traditionally measured. Therefore, we have provided that information in that technical form for the member. Finally, the reason that we have put $40 million more into elective surgery over the next four-year term of this government is to make sure that we continue to drive the elective surgery waitlist down. I am confident that, with a range of initiatives, that waitlist will continue to cascade down, as it has during the course of this government’s term, and it will make the figure of 21 500 Western Australian citizens who were waiting for elective surgery under the member’s government look very poor indeed.
Dr K.D. Hames : You haven’t answered the question, have you? Mr J.A. McGINTY : Yes, I have. I refer to the supplementary information. So that the member for Dawesville knows technically what it means, I point out that where the words “Tertiary and Non tertiary hospitals only” appear in the heading to the answer, that does not, generally speaking, include the privately managed public hospitals. It relates to the other two that are traditionally measured. Therefore, we have provided that information in that technical form for the member. Finally, the reason that we have put $40 million more into elective surgery over the next four-year term of this government is to make sure that we continue to drive the elective surgery waitlist down. I am confident that, with a range of initiatives, that waitlist will continue to cascade down, as it has during the course of this government’s term, and it will make the figure of 21 500 Western Australian citizens who were waiting for elective surgery under the member’s government look very poor indeed.
Mr J.A. McGINTY : Yes, I have. I refer to the supplementary information. So that the member for Dawesville knows technically what it means, I point out that where the words “Tertiary and Non tertiary hospitals only” appear in the heading to the answer, that does not, generally speaking, include the privately managed public hospitals. It relates to the other two that are traditionally measured. Therefore, we have provided that information in that technical form for the member. Finally, the reason that we have put $40 million more into elective surgery over the next four-year term of this government is to make sure that we continue to drive the elective surgery waitlist down. I am confident that, with a range of initiatives, that waitlist will continue to cascade down, as it has during the course of this government’s term, and it will make the figure of 21 500 Western Australian citizens who were waiting for elective surgery under the member’s government look very poor indeed.
Finally, the reason that we have put $40 million more into elective surgery over the next four-year term of this government is to make sure that we continue to drive the elective surgery waitlist down. I am confident that, with a range of initiatives, that waitlist will continue to cascade down, as it has during the course of this government’s term, and it will make the figure of 21 500 Western Australian citizens who were waiting for elective surgery under the member’s government look very poor indeed.
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