Health Legislation (Waiting List Integrity) Amendment Bill 2015

Overview

This bill would have made the Health Ombudsman the independent auditor of Queensland public hospital waiting times. Each Hospital and Health Service would have had to send quarterly data on surgery, dental and specialist waits to the Ombudsman, who would then audit it and publish a public report. The bill failed at its second reading and did not become law.

Who it affects

Public hospital patients would have gained independently audited reporting on how long people wait for care, while Hospital and Health Services would have faced new quarterly data reporting obligations to the Health Ombudsman.

Key changes

• Health Ombudsman given a new function to audit and publish reports on hospital wait time data
• Hospital and Health Services required to provide wait time data each quarter, separately for each hospital they operate
• Quarterly public reports to cover surgery waits beyond clinically appropriate times, dental waits over two years, and outpatient specialist waits
• Hospital and Health Services must be given at least 7 days to respond before any adverse findings about them are published
• Bill failed at second reading and never became law