Dr LIM - 2006-08-30
In your earlier response, you declined to believe what I told you in that the emergency department in Alice Springs was stretched. It was your general manager who was on radio last week. You often blame outbreaks of rotavirus for heavy demand on hospital services. In the winter months, an increase of cases of pneumonia is also blamed for creating further heavy demand. Are you and your department now blaming good weather for the increase in demand for services from the emergency department? That is what you said. When will you stop blaming the weather and take responsibility for poor management, which has resulted in the continued decline of emergency health services to Central Australians?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I wonder when the member for Greatorex is going to stop asking stupid questions. We have never maintained that the weather is the only reason for emergency department demand.
Dr Lim: That is what your manager said.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, member for Greatorex! You asked the question, allow the minister to respond.
Dr TOYNE: When we have spoken about the high levels of demand coming into our emergency departments we have indicated that there are quite a number of factors behind that: the lack of general practitioners in the communities; and the high level of ill health of indigenous people in the community, particularly with chronic disease levels as they are. Weather is one part of it. The fact that we have incidences of infectious disease that go through our community is a factor. A major source of demand in the emergency departments is trauma following violence, usually alcohol-related. They all play their part in ensuring that the figures that came out in the state of our public hospitals report very clearly reflect that we have very high levels of demand in the Northern Territory.
Those figures said that the Northern Territory is keeping up with the pack, if you like, with the triage. The percentage of patients that are seen within the set times for the triage categories coming into our emergency department and the waiting times are equivalent to the average level of performance around the country. For a system that is the busiest in the country, it is a system in which the government spends more money per capita than any other part of the country. We are keeping up with very high and increasing levels of demand. Rather than painting this picture that the member for Greatorex seems to be hell-bent on painting, we should celebrate that our critical care staff in the Northern Territory are achieving the same outcomes against very much higher levels of demand, and very complex cases that are coming into our EDs as other hospitals around the country that have far less pressure on them.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I wonder when the member for Greatorex is going to stop asking stupid questions. We have never maintained that the weather is the only reason for emergency department demand.
Dr Lim: That is what your manager said.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, member for Greatorex! You asked the question, allow the minister to respond.
Dr TOYNE: When we have spoken about the high levels of demand coming into our emergency departments we have indicated that there are quite a number of factors behind that: the lack of general practitioners in the communities; and the high level of ill health of indigenous people in the community, particularly with chronic disease levels as they are. Weather is one part of it. The fact that we have incidences of infectious disease that go through our community is a factor. A major source of demand in the emergency departments is trauma following violence, usually alcohol-related. They all play their part in ensuring that the figures that came out in the state of our public hospitals report very clearly reflect that we have very high levels of demand in the Northern Territory.
Those figures said that the Northern Territory is keeping up with the pack, if you like, with the triage. The percentage of patients that are seen within the set times for the triage categories coming into our emergency department and the waiting times are equivalent to the average level of performance around the country. For a system that is the busiest in the country, it is a system in which the government spends more money per capita than any other part of the country. We are keeping up with very high and increasing levels of demand. Rather than painting this picture that the member for Greatorex seems to be hell-bent on painting, we should celebrate that our critical care staff in the Northern Territory are achieving the same outcomes against very much higher levels of demand, and very complex cases that are coming into our EDs as other hospitals around the country that have far less pressure on them.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016