NSW hospital waiting lists grow

By Shane Bentley

SYDNEY -- In the 1995 state election campaign, Premier Bob Carr promised to cut hospital waiting lists by half or to resign after one year. On March 7, the state government conceded that waiting list numbers are now higher than when Carr's pledge was made.

The waiting list for elective surgery then was 44,707. The government managed to pare back the number to 19,589 in January 1996, but it has now grown again to 45,359.

According to Health Department figures, while waiting lists for hospitals in Sydney's north and east have fallen, those in the city's south and west have been growing at an alarming rate.

A spokesperson for health minister Andrew Refshauge said the government intended to spend more on health in those areas, although the federal government had cut overall funding. But this talk has not been turned into action by the NSW ALP government, which may be angling to revive its previous plan, defeated by hospital staff and community campaigns, to cut hospital funding elsewhere first.

The current strike by hospital doctors will cause a further blow-out in waiting lists for elective surgery.

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