Northern Territory Health System Lags

The Federal Government’s annual State of Our Public Hospitals Report again has the Territory lagging behind the national standard for waiting times in Emergency Departments and the provision of elective surgery, despite spending the most per patient.

“Territory Labor has no idea how to extract value for money from our health dollar,” says Matt Conlan, Shadow Minister for Health.

“No wonder the Health Minister talks loudly about how much money is being spent whilst quietly side stepping the issue of how long Territorians wait for medical services when compared to the rest of the country.

“The Territory Government spends almost double the national average per head of population but delivers some of the poorest service in Australia.

“In the critical area of waiting times in Emergency Departments, the Territory has the second worst performance in the country.

“Territorians are forced, on average, to wait for 39 minutes in Emergency when the national average is just 24 minutes. People in New South Wales wait an average of 20 minutes to be seen.

“As a consequence only 55% of Territorians are seen within the recommended time in Emergency Departments. Not surprisingly Territorians are the most likely to leave an Emergency Department before being seen.

“Territory Health’s performance is no better in when it comes to waiting times for elective surgery. The Territory has the worst result in the country for the admission of Category 3 elective surgery patients, and is third poorest in Categories 1 and 2.

“The Territory also has the most number of people waiting on elective surgery lists for more than a year. Elective surgery patients are 500% more likely to wait longer than a year in the Territory than they are in New South Wales.

“The national average for recurrent expenditure per person is $1213, whereas in the Territory that figure is $2,223.

“As usual the Health Minister, Chris Burns, pretends spending money is an achievement in its own right. Queensland spends the lowest amount and produces better results in every category.”

2008-07-01