The Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service (WBHHS) is in a financial crisis following a scathing review by the Auditor-General.
The financial results of the health report revealed the WBHHS is more than $36 million in the red for the year ending 30 June 2023. *
The operating result is the worst in the state and Member for Burnett Stephen Bennett said the writing was on the wall in 2020.
“I wrote to the Auditor-General in May 2020 to request an extraordinary audit of the WBHHS, especially matters related to the financial management since the termination of previous Chief Executive Officer, Adrian Pennington in September 2019,” said Mr Bennett. **
“In my letter I outlined my grave concerns that the WBHHS was on the verge of a serious financial crisis owing to mismanagement and waste.
“In 2020 I predicted that the budget over-run would increase to $40 million unless urgent and immediate action was taken. ***
“Month’s earlier in October 2019, I stood up in parliament and said ‘when the performance of this high-performing health service starts to slide in my region—and it will—it will be the minister’s fault for not acting sooner.’
“The performance level of the WBHHS dropped dramatically from a Level 1 (Excellent) to Level 3 (Unsatisfactory) in just three years. ****
“Again, in December 2020 I raised the alarm in another speech in parliament predicting that based on the current trends, the real debt position of the WBHHS will be creep closer to $30 million.
“In 2021, 2022 and 2023 I continued to highlight the seriousness of the looming WBHHHS financial crisis only be ignored and belittled by our various health ministers.
“Today the Auditor-General’s report has confirmed my fears from three years ago with the WBHHS responsible for more than half of Queensland Health’s total debt.
“What will it take for this Labor Government to admit there’s a problem and start listening to the people on the ground.
“The regional health crisis has been laid bare in the Auditor’s report, there’s no denying it.
“While the State Labor Government is consumed in their own chaos and crisis, regional Queenslanders are forgotten.
“Only the LNP has the right priorities for Queensland’s future and that includes easier access to health services.
“We’ve also put solutions on the table to heal the Queensland Health Crisis including better resources, better triaging, sharing data in real-time and putting doctors and nurses back in charge to improve patient care.”
* SOURCE: https://www.qao.qld.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-12/Health%202023%20%28Report%206%20%E2%80%93%202023%E2%80%9324%29_1.pdf (page 54)
** See attached media release from May 2020 regarding Mr Bennett’s letter to the Auditor General.
*** Stephen Bennett’s parliamentary speeches on WBHHS finances:
October 2019: https://documents.parliament.qld.gov.au/speeches/spk2019/Stephen_Bennett-Burnett-20191017-074845242808.pdf
December 2020: https://documents.parliament.qld.gov.au/speeches/spk2020/Stephen_Bennett-Burnett-20201203-415191980339.pdf
October 2021: https://documents.parliament.qld.gov.au/speeches/spk2021/Stephen_Bennett-Burnett-20211014-460325806079.pdf
**** SOURCE: https://documents.parliament.qld.gov.au/tableoffice/questionsanswers/2022/1381-2022.pdf
ENDS.
18/12/2023