ESTIMATES COMMITTEE PROCEEDINGS – 17 JUNE 2010
Mr VATSKALIS: Some people might have multiple
appointments, so while the number of people
treated is 1100 …
Mr CONLAN: So, can we have that? Your aim was 4000 appointments, and so you have got just a
little over half so …
Mr VATSKALIS: Well, you have to remember also that people miss appointments, people do not turn
up.
Mr CONLAN: I certainly understand those anomalies, but I was just wondering whether or not you are
able, the department knows exactly where it sits with multiple appointments, or those
people that did
not turn up, if you have that data at all.
Mr VATSKALIS: We can provide that. We have to analyse them, because I have got here some
information about appointments, but I want to clear it, because it refers to remote, and it refers to
mobile, and I think we can provide you this information. I will take it on notice.
Mr CHAIRMAN: Can you say that as a
question on notice then, member for Greatorex?
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Question on Notice No 7.17
Mr CONLAN: Minister, can you provide the committee with a breakdown of those appointments
where people failed to turn up, and those appointments that were, indeed, multiple appointments?
Mr CHAIRMAN: That is question No 7.17.
Mr CONLAN: And this is to do with the blitz too, by the way, to make that clear.
Mr VATSKALIS: Yes.
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Mr WOOD: Minister, the 2008-09 reports of vacancy rates for dentists were 40%, dental therapists
30%, have you reduced those vacancy rates?
Mr VATSKALIS: The number of dentists has actually been addressed. For
dental therapists, it is
difficult hiring, for example, we have got nine in the Top End; 11 positions for dentists. We have three
vacancies. In the Centre, we
have five dentists, no vacancies.
In dental therapists in the Top End, we have 17, and the vacancies is 3.6 full-time equivalent; in
Central Australia, we have got two dental therapists and no vacancies. Alice Springs seems to be
handling the dental issues better than Darwin.
Mr WOOD: I needed to know, because I have not been here yet, so I could get one of those dentists
so I could see him straight away. That is all right, so the rates are reduced.
Mr CONLON: Minister, in the budget speech, it says, ‘keeping people out of hospital Is just as
important and it is expected that in 2010-11, $112m will be spent on preventative health initiatives’.
Are you able to give us a breakdown of those initiatives and where that money will be spent, the
$112m? And, in the interests of time, I am happy for that to be tabled or taken on notice.
Ms CLEARY: What we have brought with us is qualitative information
about preventative health, so
the breakdown quantitatively is not in front of me. It is obviously available. It is a complex
methodology that takes apart every cost centre in the department, which is hundreds and hundreds,
as you can imagine, and apportions a percentage of that that is spent on prevention. So, for example,
ESTIMATES COMMITTEE PROCEEDINGS – 17 JUNE 2010
we might say that, perhaps among, say, the dental therapists, just using oral health as an example
and this is hypothetical; the dental therapists might spend 10% of their time doing preventive dentistry
versus restorative dentistry, in which case we would take 10% of that. So, at the end of the day, the
amount of money the department spends on prevention is in addition to hundreds of proportions of
cost centres.
Mr CONLAN: Right, so it is not really a stand-alone figure as such?
Ms CLEARY: It is a total, but it comes from hundreds of additions is what I am explaining.
Mr CONLAN: Are there measures: say, anti-smoking, drinking, healthy eating and that type
of thing,
come under this $112m figure?
Ms CLEARY: Yes.
Mr CONLAN: Do you have a breakdown of that, perhaps the government is doing? Just the programs
and where the money is.
Ms CLEARY: Yes, and not easily at the fingertips, but we could provide information about the
nutrition and physical activity budget, the tobacco
and other substances budget, etcetera.
Mr VATSKALIS: And supporting other organisations, non-government organisations. Recently we
supported AMSANT to run the fresh fruit (inaudible) in the Barkly. We actually fund the physical
activity forums, one in Katherine and one in Darwin to promote healthy living and preventative health
in remote communities. So it is not only an activity done by the department, but also funded activities
for NGOs.
Mr CONLAN: Yes, but I think it would be interesting to see where that $112m is going on preventative
health, and if we could get a breakdown of it.
Mr VATSKALIS: We can take the question on notice and we can provide it later.
Mr CONLAN: When 60% of the health budget is on
Indigenous related issues, and people in those
communities have very poor health outcomes, to see what the government is doing, what initiatives
are out there, and where that significant amount of money, $112m, is going for preventative health.
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Question on Notice No 7.18
Mr CHAIRMAN: Would you repeat the question for the purposes of Hansard, please?
Mr CONLAN: Minister, can you provide the committee with a breakdown of the $112m earmarked for
preventative health?
Mr CHAIRMAN: That is question No 7.18.
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Mr CONLAN: In the interests of time I think we will skip that and I will hand over to the Independent.
Mr CHAIRMAN: Member for Nelson, do you have a question at 3.1 – Community Health Services?
Mr WOOD: I think I have probably done that in relation to the dentist. I had
some other questions, but
I will pass it over to the member for Macdonnell.
Ms ANDERSON: I was just going to carry on from the shadow’s comments on preventative health,