Brumby's hospitals sicker than he thought

IT has been revealed that Victoria's public hospitals have failed to meet six out of nine key performance targets. 

JUST weeks after John Brumby was boasting to the nation that Victoria had the best hospital system, it has been revealed the state's public hospitals failed to meet six out of nine key performance targets.

The Your Hospitals report card for July to December 2009 showed that there were 40,899 patients languishing on elective-surgery waiting lists at the end of last year -- up more than 3000 on 2008.

In the worst result in two years, the report revealed emergency departments failed to meet government targets of treating 80 per cent of patients with severe pain within 10 minutes, and 75 per cent cent of patients with urgent symptoms within 30 minutes.

But it showed hospitals did meet targets on reducing the amount of emergency departments on bypass to 3 per cent and treating 100 per cent of patients with life-threatening injuries immediately.

The report found hospitals treated an additional 30,018 emergency department patients and 9725 more admitted patients than in the same period in 2008.

Victorian Health Minister Daniel Andrews said hospitals were under greater pressure and dealing with more complex problems. He said public hospitals treated 730,000 more patients in the last six months of 2009, up 40 per cent on a decade ago.

Mr Andrews said the system was "not perfect", but he was confident it would improve under the federal health reforms signed last week.

"Ours is a strong system but it can always be better, it can always improve and we are committed 100 per cent . . . to drive those improvements," he said.

Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu said there were serious problems in the state's public hospitals and the Brumby government was in denial.

"John Brumby cannot claim that his hospitals are the best in Australia given he has gone backwards under his own measures," he said. "Nine targets. Last time they failed five of those targets. This time they failed six of those targets."

Australian Medical Association Victorian state president Harry Hemley used the report to call for a funding boost in next week's budget.

AAP