Committee Details

COMMITTEE'S CONSIDERATION

In its Report No. 41, 57th Parliament - Annual Report 2022-23, tabled on 3 November 2023, the committee reported on its consideration of a number of Auditor-General's reports referred to it, including Auditor-General Report 8: 2021-22 – Improving access to specialist outpatient services. The committee determined to take no further review action in relation to the report and made no recommendations to the Legislative Assembly.

OVERVIEW

Role of the Auditor-General 

The role of the Auditor-General is to provide Parliament with independent assurance of public sector accountability and performance. This is achieved through reporting to Parliament on the results of its financial and performance audits.

About the Auditor-General Report

This Auditor-General’s report sets out the results of an audit examining whether, by implementing the Specialist Outpatient Strategy (Strategy), Queensland Health (comprising the Department of Health and the hospital and health services (HHSs)) has improved patient access to specialist outpatient services and reduced waiting lists. 

The Queensland Audit Office (QAO) noted that the Queensland Government has invested $595 million in the Strategy since July 2015, almost 80% of which was used for additional specialist outpatient appointments to reduce long waits (where patients wait longer than clinically recommended for a specialist appointment). The report reveals that long waits were halved in the first 3 years of the Strategy, but increasing demand means the number of long-waits for non-urgent cases has grown steadily since 2017. The QAO identified that, in order to create sustainable improvement, Queensland Health will need to address the challenge posed by this increasing demand in its further reform work.

Alternative models of care, including telehealth appointments, were singled out as helping to increase the capacity of the public health system and provide more timely access to services for some patients. The QAO identified that these models have reduced waiting lists in some specialties, but ‘need to be used more broadly to significantly increase capacity and optimise benefits’. 

The QAO also reported that new contemporary information management systems have improved system integration, created process efficiencies for hospitals and general practitioners (GPs), and improved the patient journey (including tracking of referrals) and referral quality. However, the QAO identified that GP uptake of electronic (smart) referrals is low, with greater engagement and support needed to onboard more GPs and ensure the benefits of smart referrals are more broadly realised.

The report contains 4 recommendations to help Queensland Health address pressure points in the health system by changing how hospitals triage non-urgent cases and embedding proven models of care and effective practice across the state.

Queensland Health has accepted all 4 recommendations.

Referral to Committee 

Standing Order 194B provides that the Committee of the Legislative Assembly shall as soon as practicable after a report of the Auditor-General is tabled in the Assembly refer that report to the relevant portfolio committee(s) for consideration. 

The committee is responsible under section 94 of the Parliament of Queensland Act 2001 for assessing the integrity, economy, efficiency and effectiveness of government financial management by examining government financial documents and considering reports of the Auditor-General.

The Committee of the Legislative Assembly referred this Auditor-General report to the committee on 24 February 2022. 

Private Briefing

The committee held a private briefing with the Auditor-General and officers of the Queensland Audit Office on 27 May 2022.

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