Della Bosca Fails On NCAHS Hospital Bills: Guarantee Proves Worthless

28 May 2009

“My guarantee is that the benchmark that has been established for a long time will be met.” John Della Bosca in Parliament in reference to Labor’s 45 day benchmark for paying bills, 25 September 2008

“What I’ve been doing is putting in place a whole series of things with the director general, to make sure that we are getting on top of this creditors cash flow problem. And I think we’re very, very close to being on top of it.”
Health Minister John Della Bosca, Radio 2GB, 31 October 2008

Health Minister John Della Bosca has proven to be a total failure in tackling the North Coast Area Health Service hospital debt crisis, despite pledges it would be fixed and that he was on top of it, Shadow Minister for Health Jillian Skinner and Leader of The Nationals Andrew Stoner said today.

“John Della Bosca and the Rees Labor Government will say anything to get them through a media crisis and then promptly forget the pledges made,” Mrs Skinner said.

“The longer John Della Bosca is in the job, the more he’s beginning to resemble Reba Meagher – all spin, out of touch, no compassion and no solutions,’ she said.

Freedom of Information data obtained by the NSW Liberal/Nationals show there are 47,155 invoices totalling $89.6 million in late bills (ie. those unpaid for over 45 days) as at 31 March 2009, including $8.6 million for North Coast AHS.

There were 6,333 invoices outstanding for more than 45 days in North Coast AHS, which was 49% of the total number of the Area’s invoices (23,665).

The average outstanding late bill was worth $1,358 in North Coast AHS.

“Under Labor, the public has witnessed the humiliation of hospital staff forced to go to the local vet to purchase bandages because regular suppliers had not been paid,” Mr Stoner said.

“The implementation of the NSW Liberal/Nationals 30 day mandatory payment code, the introduction of automatic penalty interest payments for unpaid bills, and the establishment of district health boards will makes local hospitals more accountable to their community. 

“We are committed to putting people first and standing up for the forgotten families across NSW by offering positive plans to fix the health system,” Mr Stoner said.