Auditor-General called in to probe dodgy health numbers

snoopydoc said :

@ dpm

I agree, we could forgo any new public art projects and pipe the money into health care. However, the main reason for long waiting times in ED is _not_ a lack of ED doctors or nurses. It is a lack of physical bed spaces in which to assess and treat new patients. This lack of physical bedspace occurs because the patients who have already been seen, diagnosed, and had treatment commenced cannot _leave_ the ED because there are no hospital beds for them to go to.

The problem is known as “access block”. The solution is more inpatient beds (real inpatient beds, not day surgery beds, etc.) and increased efficiency in managing both inpatient and ED beds. ED and inpatient teams are doing their best to improve things on the efficiency front, but increasing the number of acute beds in the hospital is necessary, and requires action much further up the administrative food chain.

Yes, I was only thinking about the prob being hospital beds after I posted. I think that bottleneck is a bit more costly…
I also noticed on my last ED visit that they had replaced 3 ED beds with 5 ED ‘chairs’. I presumed to get a couple more people seen (and hopefully out) while waiting for a bed for those that needed one? This also points to the fact that Docs and nurses in there can (hopefully!) handle a couple more patients in there! I wonder if there will be more chairs appearing in there as time goes on (as an attempted cheaper ‘solution’)….

@ dpm

I agree, we could forgo any new public art projects and pipe the money into health care. However, the main reason for long waiting times in ED is _not_ a lack of ED doctors or nurses. It is a lack of physical bed spaces in which to assess and treat new patients. This lack of physical bedspace occurs because the patients who have already been seen, diagnosed, and had treatment commenced cannot _leave_ the ED because there are no hospital beds for them to go to.

The problem is known as “access block”. The solution is more inpatient beds (real inpatient beds, not day surgery beds, etc.) and increased efficiency in managing both inpatient and ED beds. ED and inpatient teams are doing their best to improve things on the efficiency front, but increasing the number of acute beds in the hospital is necessary, and requires action much further up the administrative food chain.

PantsMan said :

Does this relate to the ACT Government’s “Open Government” policy?

No, the ‘Open Government’ thing only applies to the parts that the ACT Government wants to appear ‘open’ i.e. the bits that make it look good.

Bringing the Auditor-General in to shed some light on the situation seems like the appropriate move.

welkin31 said :

Where are the usual squadrons of Labor apologists on this issue ?
I would say to the Chief Minister – you should have some information for the public Monday morning – full and frank – open and transparent – revealing the following.
Nobody is impressed or satisfied that your deputy is handling the thing.
And ditto for your newly appointed Auditor General – ex Environment Commissioner. To the extent they are involved – they better be working the weekend.

This isn’t reasonable. Most people here would be very suspicious if they came up with all the answers by Monday.

bd84 said :

Given what likes a very indirect nature of the conflict of interest, the 3 days taken to note the conflict of interest and obtain advice about it seems reasonable.

It’s not really that indirect. A friend of the Chief Minister’s family cooks the books to make things look better for the Labor government, and the Chief Minister has to ask for advice on whether she should head up an investigation into the matter? Hard to defend really.

Does this relate to the ACT Government’s “Open Government” policy?

Greens at this time remain silent…………….well, that says it all, doesn’t it!

Given what likes a very indirect nature of the conflict of interest, the 3 days taken to note the conflict of interest and obtain advice about it seems reasonable. Especially if you consider that th CM may not have been aware of the conflict until told of the friendship by the family member and also that Anzac day was also in the middle. Any time much longer would see me questioning it, but otherwise it seems fine.

cranky said :

So this became public knowledge on Tues 24.

But the CM waited until Friday 27 to fess up to the conflict of interest. When the wretched media had gone to bed for the weekend.

And does anyone wonder why our political masters are held in such absolute contempt?

The CT gives this issue a small headline on the front page this morning (Annabell Crabb gets huge headlines at other times) and Noel Towell gives a supplemntary single column comment deeper into the rag which is more one of sympathy for Gallagher.
I wonder if Towell has starting working on the FOI applications yet? He was quick out of the blocks when Zed’s gonads were on the line.

Where are the usual squadrons of Labor apologists on this issue ?
I would say to the Chief Minister – you should have some information for the public Monday morning – full and frank – open and transparent – revealing the following.
Nobody is impressed or satisfied that your deputy is handling the thing.
And ditto for your newly appointed Auditor General – ex Environment Commissioner. To the extent they are involved – they better be working the weekend.
Here are some ideas of what is needed to be public by Monday morning.
For what period – with dates – were these wrong Hospital numbers promulgated – when were they discovered.
A chart or two starting well before the commencement of the tweaking showing clearly the correct numbers for the dept concerned together with the wrong numbers for comparison.
So the public has a clear view of the scale and importance of the wrongdoing.
A chart on the same timescale conveying how Commonwealth Grants (and other Govt financing) were running for the correct numbers – and how Commonwealth Grants could have been enhanced by the tweaked numbers and hypothetical continuation of the tweaked numbers.
Did the wrong numbers reported affect only one dept or did they impact on say – numbers in a ward or wards.
The dollars are important – I have just heard news that Yass Hospital can not afford a midwife – so it is relevant to see what Govt dollars might have been affected by this tweaking.
If this is not handled quickly and openly – common sense would tell you that the issue is likely to fester and be more damaging than it should be.