On 17 December 2015 the NSW Acting Auditor-General, Tony Whitfield, released a report on the care that is provided to mental health patients in the first seven days after they are discharged from acute mental health units.
 
The audit examined models of care provided by five Local Health Districts: Northern NSW, Sydney, Western Sydney, Central Coast, and Murrumbidgee. The audit looked at how well these Local Health Districts implemented the Ministry of Health’s policy directive on the transfer of mental health patients from hospitals to the community.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #263 - released 17 December 2015

NSW Health, on average, met the emergency department triage response time targets across all triage categories in 2014-15 for the second consecutive year. However, fewer health entities met all triage targets in 2014-15, according to a report released by the New South Wales Acting Auditor-General, Tony Whitfield. 
 
NSW Health improved its emergency department treatment performance in 2014-15, but did not achieve its target of 81 per cent of patients being admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours of presenting. In 2014-15, the State average was 74.3 per cent compared to 73.9 per cent in 2013-14. Only five local health districts achieved the 81 per cent target in 2014-15.

The independent assurance given to the NSW Government and sponsor agencies on the viability of large capital projects throughout their lifecycle is inadequate. Government policy is regularly not followed and not properly communicated to those responsible for implementing such policy.
 
This audit sought to test the effectiveness of the NSW capital project assurance system - which includes gateway reviews and reporting - but significant levels of non-compliance identified in our case studies prevented this. The NSW Commission of Audit also identified this issue in 2012. Gateway reviews are conducted by independent reviewers at key stages of a project’s life cycle and provide an independent assessment on a project’s readiness to proceed to the next stage.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #252 - released 7 May 2015

NSW Health has achieved considerable success over recent years in reducing average length of stay despite increasing pressure on hospital admissions by older and chronically ill patients. This success has been driven by changes in the way health services are delivered, such as the increasing use of same day care for treatments that previously required overnight hospital stays. 
 
There is a good level of length of stay information available and this information is actively used to manage the time patients spend in hospital.
 
Available data suggest that the rate of unplanned readmissions has not reduced in NSW despite various statewide and local strategies. NSW Health is undertaking research to better understand unplanned readmissions, their causes and the best ways to address them.
 
There are many local and statewide initiatives that aim to reduce length of stay and unplanned readmissions. However, the impact of some local and statewide initiatives on length of stay and unplanned readmissions are not well understood and quantified due to the lack of evaluations conducted.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #250 - released 23 April 2015

The report includes comments on his financial audits of NSW Government human services and technology agencies. The audits of these agencies’ financial reports for the year ended 30 June 2010 each resulted in an unqualified Independent Auditor’s Report. The number of supported accommodation places for people with a disability has increased by 517 during 2009-10.

The report includes comments on NSW Treasury and agencies in the finance and superannuation sectors. The New South Wales public sector superannuation funds’ investments were $42.2 billion at 30 June 2010, up from $38.5 billion in 2009. Investment returns reached 14.5 per cent in 2009-10. This is a significant improvement on the investment returns of up to negative 18.4 per cent at the peak of the global financial crisis in 2008.
 

The report includes comments on his annual audit of entitlements paid to Members of NSW Parliament and financial audits of WorkCover, Justice Health, Waste Recycling Processing Corporation and some other NSW Government agencies.
 
In his audit the Auditor-General had called for a system to be developed to ensure accrued loyalty/reward benefits are used to reduce Members’ parliamentary business travel expenditure, rather than be forfeited when a Member leaves Parliament. He also called for better controls over the Logistic Support Allocation used for transport, communications, printing, stationery, office supplies and equipment.

Fingerprints and DNA play a critical role in solving crime and serving justice, but DNA evidence can result in more arrests, more prosecutions and more convictions. We found that while police effectively prioritise fingerprint evidence, it could better manage the screening and analysis of both fingerprint and DNA evidence to reduce delays.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #195 - released 10 February 2010