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Health Legislation (Waiting List Integrity) Amendment Bill 2015 Explanatory Notes Short title The short title of the Bill is the Waiting List Integrity Bill 2015 Policy objectives and the reasons for them The objectives of the Bill are to: 1. Establish the Health Ombudsman as the independent reviewer of the clinical waiting times for Queensland patients in the public health system 2. To ensure the Health Ombudsman manages auditing of wait time matters in a transparent, accountable and public way. This is the legislative outcome of the previous Queensland Governments announcement of its intention to create a new independent body following the announcement of the wait time guarantee. 3. To provide certainty in clinical waiting times for Queensland Public Hospital patients and allay concerns as a result of being on a waiting list longer than necessary. Achievement of policy objectives To achieve its objectives, the Bill will establish the Office of the Health Ombudsman as the independent body to review, and publish waiting time data and set out its functions and powers. The Bill will achieve its objective of establishing and monitoring the integrity of the patient clinical waiting time guarantee by: • requiring the Health and Hospital Service to provide waiting time data to the Health Ombudsman • requiring the Health Ombudsman to analyse and publish the data in a timely manner Alternative ways of achieving policy objectives No other mechanisms were canvassed, as the Office of the Health Ombudsman is an existing statutory body, and utilising the Ombudsman reduces the cost, and time of establishing a new body has resulted in this approach. Estimated cost for government implementation Cost estimates have not been included in this Bill until the health Ombudsman has been consulted on resources that may be required to execute the activities of this Bill. Consistency with fundamental legislative principles The Bill is generally consistent with fundamental legislative principles. Consultation It is anticipated that consultation will occur during committee consideration process.
Consistency with legislation of other jurisdictions The Bill is specific to the State of Queensland, and is not uniform with or complementary to legislation of the Commonwealth or another state Notes on provisions Chapter Part 2 Amendment of Health Ombudsman Act 2013 Clause 3 Schedule 25 9 Functions) Insert (h) to audit and publish reports regarding wait time data Notes: Clause 3 states that, when enacted, the Bill will be cited as the Waiting List integrity Bill 2015. Clause 2 states that the Bill is intended to commence on a day fixed by proclamation. Clause 3 is a new provision which details that the main objective is to have an independent audit of clinical waiting times. Part 15 A Amendment of Health Ombudsman Act 2013 Insert new pt 15A Audit of Waiting Times 244A Definitions for pt 15A In this part--Hospital and Health Service means a Hospital and Health Service established under the Hospital and Health Boards Act 2011, section 17. Quarter means the 3-month period ending on 31 March, 30 June, 30 September or 31 December. Wait time data means each of the following-- (a) data on the number of patients of each Hospital and Health Service waiting longer than a clinically appropriate period for surgery, by type of surgery, reported separately; (b) data on the number of patients of a Hospital and Health Service waiting longer than 2 years for general dental care, by type of dental care; (c) data on the time an outpatient of a Hospital and Health Service waits for an initial consultation with a specialist health practitioner, by type of specialist health practitioner; (d) other data, prescribed by regulation, about waiting times for a Hospital and Health Service. 244B Audit of wait time data (1) The health ombudsman must audit wait time data given to the health ombudsman under the Hospital and Health Boards Act 2011, section 54A to examine the accuracy of the data.
(2) The audit must be conducted within 14 days after the end of the quarter to which the data relates. 244C Audit report (1) Within 14 days after conducting an audit of wait time data for a quarter, the health ombudsman must prepare and publish, on a publicly accessible website of the health ombudsman or in another way the health ombudsman considers appropriate, a report on the audit. (2) The health ombudsman must include the following information in the report-- (a) a copy of the wait time data for each Hospital and Health Service given to the health ombudsman for the quarter; (b) a summary of the data for the State; (c) the health ombudsman's findings in relation to the accuracy of the data. Part 3 Amendment of Hospital and Health Boards Act 2011 6 Act amended This part amends the Hospital and Health Boards Act 2011. 7 Amendment of s 19 (Functions of Services) Section 19(2)(o), after 'functions'-- insert-- given to the Service under this Act Insertion of new s 54A Part 4, division 1-- insert-- 54A Requirement to give wait time data to health 1) The Health Service must within 14 days after the end of each quarter. Give to the Health Ombudsman wait time data for the service. Division 6 Transitional provision for Health Legislation (Wait time Integrity) Bill 2015 Para 32 Provision of wait time data does not apply to a Health and Hospital Service until the end of the quarter that starts immediately after the commencement Notes: Clause 3 states that, when enacted, the Bill will be cited as the Waiting List integrity Bill 2015. Clause 2 states that the Bill is intended to commence on a day fixed by proclamation. Clause 3 is a new provision which details the main objective is to have an independent audit of clinical waiting times.