Mr DEAN ( Windermere ) - I will make a short contribution. Other members have covered it quite well. I have a motion in this House for a select committee inquiry looking at the public health system throughout the State. That is yet to be debated, as members are aware. There are two or three issues I want to raise. If you look through health and where we are going at the present time, there are some huge issues and huge areas yet to be fixed. I was recently talking to an eminently-qualified professor who raised several issues. He says that if nurse numbers could be increased it would fix most of the problems within public hospitals. He was saying that is one area that we need to concentrate on, to get those numbers up to a reasonable level so that they can keep all the beds and wards open and hence treat the people who need to be treated. That is one of the best ways of decreasing the elective surgery lists and getting people through the hospital system quickly. He made quite an issue of that and said that that is not being addressed well enough today and it is causing lots of problems in the system.

The other area I want to touch on is mental health which is referred to in this document on page 67 and specifically it refers to Ward 1E Launceston General Hospital recommendations. I am not going to say a lot on this because I also have a motion before this House in relation to the Santangelo report which will, hopefully, be debated next week.

Suffice to say that in the 2006-07 annual report there was a reference made to the recommendations that came out of the Health Complaints Commission and that those recommendations are being implemented or were successfully implemented. I read from the document:

'22 recommendations were successfully implemented and the remaining recommendations continue to be progressed.'

It is interesting that at the time that statement was being made and was being put into this annual report, another review was taking place into exactly the same situations and that out of that review, which was released early this year and which was done through 2007, almost the identical recommendations came out again. On this occasion, in this new review that was done by Santangelo, 38 independent recommendations came out, and this is on top of those recommendations that came out and have been referred to in this report in 2006-07. That is a huge issue and you do wonder what has gone wrong and what is happening but, as I said, I do not intend to expand on this now but I certainly will next week.

It is just worth mentioning that it is reported here that 22 were implemented which means that 22 recommendations were put into place, that 22 problem areas were in fact fixed. I think there will be some dispute as to whether or not that in fact did happen.

I just make quick mention of the general care waiting list tender oral health services in Tasmania. I notice from this report that there has been implementation of certain activities in the north-west of the State in relation to oral health and there is an indication here that these services will be extended to the north and south of the State in 2007 and 2008. I hope that that is occurring, but am not quite sure whether it is. Perhaps we could be given an update on whether or not, and how, that is progressing because we do know that we have lots of problems and difficulties with dental health right across the State and indeed right across the country.

I refer to George Town, and I have raised this in this House on many occasions. The service in relation to dental issues in George Town is non-existent now, requiring senior people, adults, to travel to Launceston for treatment whereas at one stage dental officers were going to George Town to provide some support.

Ms Forrest - The same happens in Smithton and other regional areas. We are getting a better road between Smithton and Burnie now so that is good.

Mr DEAN - Yes, so it is a real concern. I hope that that is progressing and that we can see some headway occurring in that in the very near future.

Just going back to mental health and progressing through this document, the annual report, there is comment here made in relation to the mental health line and the fact that that is being trialled. I would be interested to hear any comment on any feedback as to how that is progressing because I spoke to a father of a young person who unfortunately is in and out of Ward 1E and being given support through Mental Health Services. The father of that boy says that the Mental Health Helpline - and I will use his words and I will quote him - 'It is an absolute joke', meaning that it is not doing what it is required to do. I have not gone into that in any more detail but as I said, that comes from the father of a patient and they use this system fairly frequently, or try to use it but, of course, they are not getting assistance that they need through it and are using other services.

The other one - and the member for Mersey referred to it - was in relation to alcohol, tobacco and other drugs treatment services. I will just read from this document:

'Alcohol, tobacco and other drugs treatment services within Tasmania are currently being reviewed to determine whether the capacity of the sector is sufficient to meet the needs of clients, both now and into the future'.

I think it will be interesting to see just where we go with this because of all the publicity that we are currently receiving in relation to binge drinking. We have a bill coming into this House probably next week or the week after, I would think. I think it is being discussed in the other House right at this very moment. That will address, hopefully, some of the issues in relation to alcohol but it will be interesting to see whether or not we have the mix right and whether or not we should be looking at additional people in those areas to get on top of what is now seen as a huge problem confronting not only us but the whole nation. So I think there will be a lot of changes occurring in that area.

I would also be interested in knowing, after the recent passing of Ronald McDonald who was the tobacco inspector at Launceston, whether that position has been filled and whether some changes have been made in that regard. The Leader might be in a position to advise us as to what is going on there. I did seek a briefing at one stage and was unable to get one on it but I would be interested to know what is happening in that regard.

I had a discussion with an eminently qualified professor who is involved in the hospital system who is indicating that another one of the major problems with our public hospital is the elderly people who are taking up the hospital beds, and that was referred to today by some of the other members as well. I think the honourable member for Murchison referred to the elderly people who are currently -

Ms Forrest - Caring for aged people.

Mr DEAN - The aged people who are taking up beds in hospitals when in actual fact they should be in more suitable accommodation in respite centres and aged care homes and so on.

It was interesting that the gentleman that I was talking to said - a well-known person - that every aged person taking up a hospital bed for a day equates to services being missed out on by other people, such as two knee reconstructions and a hip replacement and some other medical attention to other people. He was saying there are about four to five people currently on the elective surgery list or wanting hospital treatment or assistance who are not able to get it because there is an aged person in that bed.

When you look at it from that point of view, it is significant, particularly when the hospital system and the minister and all others are saying that every effort is being made to decrease that elective surgery list. So there are some big issues out there that need addressing and I guess it will be interesting to see just where we go in the future. More funding is now coming through for the hospitals and I guess we all wait to see whether improvements occur in the system.

Report noted.