UNPAID HEALTH BILLS INCREASE BY 17%, REES AND DELLA BOSCA CAN’T DELIVER ON PROMISES

Unpaid hospital bills have increased by 17% since Nathan Rees told Parliament he would ‘ensure that creditors are paid on time’, Shadow Minister for Health Jillian Skinner said today.Thursday 29 January 2009

Health Minister John Della Bosca today confirmed on 2GB this morning that by the end of this week NSW hospitals will owe creditors $117 million.

Premier Nathan Rees told Parliament on 25 November last year that: “At the end of the first quarter of this financial year (30 Sept) creditors were owed an overdue amount of around $100 million”.

The increase from $100 million to $117 million represents a 17% increase over the four-month period.

“Instead of simply paying their overdue bills, Nathan Rees and John Della Bosca have allowed the situation to get even worse,” Mrs Skinner said.

“The value of unpaid hospital bills has increased by 17% in four months,” she said.

“Nathan Rees’ special taskforce to fix the problem has been a total failure, as have the Health Minister’s pathetic platitudes that he’s making progress.

“An increased creditors bill shows John Della Bosca is going backwards, and makes a mockery of his claims of improvement.

“Doctors are not being paid, nurses are being forced to buy supplies out of their own pockets, hospitals are running out of morphine and firms large and small are refusing to do business with our health system because of the State Labor Government’s incompetence.

“If Nathan Rees and John Della Bosca can’t pay their bills on time, how do they expect to fix the systemic problems in our hospitals?

“When the State Labor Government releases it’s response to the Garling inquiry, Nathan Rees and John Della Bosca will tell everyone that things will be different.

“Based on their track record, why would anyone believe them?” Mrs Skinner said.