The ACT Opposition has called on the Health Minister to guarantee practices ordered in 2013 directing Calvary Hospital staff to "manipulate" some elective surgery waiting lists are no longer taking place.
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Canberra Liberals health spokeswoman Vicki Dunne has urged the government to set the record straight as to whether patients newer to elective surgery waiting lists were still being treated before those who had waited the longest.
A spokeswoman for Health Minister Meegan Fitzharris said instructions from a 2013 ACT Health directive no longer stood but did not comment on whether the method was still employed.
The comments from the opposition come after The Sunday Canberra Times revealed Calvary executive staff expressed concern with the directive, calling it "unethical" and likely to put patients at risk, according to leaked confidential emails.
Newer patients to the waiting list would be treated first in order for Calvary Hospital to meet national benchmarks.
According to the directive, the practice was to bring Calvary Hospital into line with Canberra Hospital, which had been using a similar system to treat patients on elective waiting lists.
"This is an unethical practice that could result in very dire outcomes for patients," Ms Dunne told The Sunday Canberra Times.
"Unfortunately, we just don't know if data manipulation is a current practice in ACT public hospitals."
Ms Dunne said new directives for both Calvary and Canberra hospitals should be made.
"[Minister Fitzharris] should formally revoke any previous directives to The Canberra Hospital and Calvary Hospital, and issue ethical directives in its place," she said.
"The integrity of the ACT's health system is compromised."
While claims about the waiting list manipulation were made in November 2013, ACT Health rejected them, calling them "nonsense".
The spokeswoman for Ms Fitzharris said ACT Health aimed to ensure timely access to elective surgery for all patients and was aiming to reduce patients waiting beyond recommended timeframes.
Data released in December showed the ACT was the only only jurisdiction where median wait times for public elective surgery could top a year.
"Calvary books elective surgery patients in accordance with the current ACT Health policy, which reflects the needs of the population at any given time," Ms Fitzharris's spokeswoman said.
"ACT Health regularly reviews its waiting lists to ensure patients are ready to receive care, and also that they are no unnecessarily waiting should their condition no longer requires surgical intervention."
The opposition health spokeswoman used the comments about the Calvary Hospital directive to also call for the government to release its data review, which was expected to be handed down in March or April.
Since 2016, the territory government has spent more than $2.6 million on external contractors to improve data for ACT Health, which has been dogged by claims of manipulation.
"The ACT Auditor-General, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Calvary insiders have all confirmed that data manipulation has occurred," Ms Dunne said.
"We are also waiting for the minister to hand down a report on the system-wide data review, now two months overdue."
The spokeswoman for the Health Minister said final consultation with staff was informing next steps of the review.
"The final report will be circulated to the community as soon as possible after final staff consultation, as well as the government's response to the review."
