By Shane Hopkinson
NEWCASTLE — Cuts to elective surgery are expected in most Hunter Valley hospitals beginning the day after the state government's waiting list reduction program ends on March 31.
The Mater Hospital, which was reportedly planning to cancel all elective surgery April 1-21, will be most affected. The Belmont Hospital is planning a four-month refurbishment of its surgical ward at that time, with a corresponding decline in beds.
In March 1995, the Carr Labor government moved to enact its election promise to halve hospital waiting lists. Rather than increase funding to facilitate the necessary surgery, it tied funding to a reduction in waiting lists. This meant that hospitals have had to reschedule elective surgery both to disguise the length of lists and to meet financial targets. By January, the state government announced it had achieved its goal.
While they were promised $7.4 million, Hunter hospitals received only $4.3 million by the end of 1995. As a result, there has been only a 41% reduction in waiting lists. It has become clear that the government is withholding $1.4 million from Newcastle hospitals which are already short of funds due to their increased workload.
Health minister Andrew Refshauge has pronounced his campaign to cut waiting lists a "success". But now patients have to pick up the tab. Funding shortages mean that less surgery can be scheduled, with surgeons predicting a return to pre-1995 waiting list levels.