The opposition has claimed the Emergency Services Minister Mick Gentleman withheld ambulance data for 100 days while public servants worked to spin the information positively.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But Mr Gentleman has maintained the delay was necessary to provide context to the data.
Answers to questions on notice - which were submitted late - last year revealed that in 2016-17 there were 303 ACT Ambulance shifts where fewer than 10 emergency ambulances were available during a shift, a 36 per cent increase from 2015-16 figures.
The government included context in the response saying that in periods of low demand, the ACT Ambulance Service was prepared to operate with fewer than 10 emergency ambulance crews.
Emails obtained by the opposition under freedom of information showed public servants amending the response after being asked to include additional information to provide "context" for the issue.
Opposition whip Andrew Wall labelled the 100-day wait for the figures a "stitch up".
He said instead of releasing the data, which was obtained within the standard 30-day deadline, Mr Gentleman’s office directed public servants to make the data sound better, causing significant delays to its public release.
“On almost a daily basis there are not enough ambulances on ACT roads to service the community, and meet the government’s minimum operational requirements," he said.
“Rather than addressing underlying issues in the delivery of vital ambulance services, Mr Gentleman has tasked the public service to spin doctor an official government response.
“Mr Gentleman has invested a considerable amount of ACT public servants’ time and resources into alterations that add little more than spin."
Mr Wall accused Mr Gentleman of misleading the Assembly by blaming the delay in providing the answer on the time taken to retrieve data, not including context.
“Mr Gentleman should be held to account for politicising this process. He also needs to correct the record,” he said.
A spokesman for Mr Gentleman said the data around ambulance crewing was complex and it was important that both the data, and the necessary context around that data, was accurate and up-to-date before being provided.
"Discussions between the minister’s office and the Emergency Services Agency with regards to this matter were to ensure accuracy of data and context," he said.
"As such, this [question on notice] did take some time to prepare.
"The minister’s office stayed in touch with Ms Jones' office to keep them informed about this as it progressed.
"Any assertion that the Minister misled the assembly would be incorrect.
"The minister has subsequently answered further questions about ambulance crewing, has committed to the recruitment of 24 additional staff as well as two new ambulances, and agreed to undertake a review of minimum crewing standards.”
