By ALESHA CAPONE
PUBLIC hospitals in Sunshine and Footscray are failing performance targets and faring poorly under the State Government, according to a Western Suburbs politican.
However, the State Government has dismissed Altona MP Jill Hennessy’s claims as “plain wrong”.
Last week, Ms Hennessy said the State Government had “lost control of the health system”.
“The state’s health system is struggling to cope and is starved of resources due to $826 million in Napthine Government cuts,” Ms Hennessy said.
She said an annual report tabled in parliament showed Western Health, which includes Sunshine Hospital and the Western Hospital in Footscray, has failed key elective surgery indicators.
Ms Hennessy said the Western Health report revealed more than 4890 patients remained on its elective surgery waiting list at 30 June last year, higher than the state-wide target.
The report also said 68 per cent of emergency patients at Sunshine Hospital were seen within clinically recommended times, below the Victorian target of 80 per cent.
In response to the criticism, a spokesman for Health Minister David Davis said Ms Hennessy was “just plain wrong with her claims about cuts”.
“The Coalition Government has increased funding to Western Health by 17 per cent, or $72 million more a year in 2013-14 compared to when Labor was in office,” he said.
“Hypocritically, Jill Hennessy was silent while her Labor mates in Canberra slashed funding to Western Health by more than $28 million over four years.
“Western Health, in its own annual report, has attributed its elective surgery challenges to the former Federal Labor Government’s cuts.”
Western Health CEO, Associate Professor Alex Cockram, said the June 2013 quarter performance report showed improvements in emergency care access.
“The proportion of patients waiting less than four hours in our emergency departments has improved over the past 12 months, with Sunshine Hospital’s performance measure now eight per cent ahead and Western Hospital’s figure seven per cent ahead of the June 2012 figures,” she said.
“The number of patients on the Western Health elective surgery waiting list has increased due to several factors, including the growth within the catchment area and an increase in the number of Category One patients who require surgery within 30 days and the complex surgical procedures they require.”
