This audit follows our earlier studies on ambulance response times, on waiting times for elective (i.e. non-urgent) surgery and on the ‘Code Red’ status of hospital emergency departments. Those audits indicated that matching resources to the ever-increasing numbers of people seeking emergency treatment was certainly an issue, but not the only issue. We found that problems were also occurring at the ‘interface’ between different parts of the health system – when patients arrive in ambulances at emergency departments or when they need to be admitted from emergency departments to hospital wards.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #125 - released 28 July 2004

All three hospitals followed the Department of Health’s guidelines for judging capacity and had systems in place to notify hospital staff and ambulance crews of changes in status. We found discrepancies in the records kept by all three hospitals when compared to the records maintained by the Department of Health. Our view however, is that these records do not need to be a perfect match for the intended purpose, which is to guide ambulance crews to the shortest queue.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #121 - released 15 December 2003

In our opinion there are inadequacies in the current arrangements for detecting unauthorised driving. For example better information is needed on the extent of unlicensed driving. This may require giving the NSW Police power to conduct random licence and registration checks. In addition, there are technological and legal constraints to the efficient and effective detection of unauthorised driving.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #115 - released 4 September 2003

A staged, systematic and careful approach and extensive business re-engineering effort underpinned the Roads and Traffic Authority's (RTA) steady progress in providing customers with a range of reliable and secure online registration services. The RTA’s consistent and disciplined pursuit of new and challenging e-business opportunities is commendable.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #111 - released 11 June 2003

StateRail has invested significantly over the last five years in passenger safety and security. Security guards on trains from 7.00 pm were introduced in 1998. More recently, additional lighting, 5,700 closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) and emergency help points have been installed on CityRail stations. In addition, CityRail has employed some 100 transit officers to patrol its network and intends to employ another 200 transit officers in 2003. While substantial steps have been taken to reduce crime and improve passenger safety and security, the results have been mixed. Overall, the risk of a passenger becoming a victim of a crime on CityRail has increased.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #106 - released 12 February 2003

Despite the issue being on the agenda for many years (formally, at least since 1988), at present there is not a comprehensive record of all government property assets in NSW. Whilst initiatives currently underway are promising, they will require continued priority to achieve tangible results. And careful coordination will be required to avoid duplication and waste.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #93 - released 31 January 2002

This performance audit indicates that the Service has considerable work to do to reach its aspirations of being recognised amongst leading examples of best practice services. The commitment of the Service to serving the community and the professionalism of the Service's officers is not in question. It is, however, apparent that a number of barriers to performance will need to be overcome for the Service to perform as well as it would wish.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #80 - released 7 March 2001

The Audit Office is of the opinion that the Department’s levels of regulatory activity in respect of road passenger transport regulation may have exceeded optimum levels. The Department’s current focus on processing activity limits the Department in achieving all of its desired outcomes. The Audit Office considers that a change in the approach to undertaking and managing road passenger transport regulatory activities would achieve better outcomes for the community and a better use of resources within the Department.

The Audit Office believes that while there is scope to make some improvements from procedural changes, such changes would not be sufficient to generate significant improvements.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #75 - released 6 September 2000

There have been notable changes in the provision of emergency department services over the last decade, principally by increasing the number, seniority and training of staff and upgrading facilities. More recently, programs have focussed on achieving improvements in emergency department waiting times (the time taken to see a doctor) and access block (delay in accessing a hospital bed). However, these programs have had limited effect. Although waiting times for seriously ill patients have decreased, waiting times for around 95% of emergency department patients have increased or remain unchanged and performance against benchmarks for access block has declined each year.

Although The Audit Office identified opportunities to improve patient flow in the emergency department, benefits will be limited by access block and the congestion caused by being unable to move patients to a ward. Only a better balance of resources between inpatient access programs (that is booked and emergency department patients) will bring about improvements in access block.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #72 - released 15 March 2000

NSW Health has progressed in identifying and addressing key R&D issues in a complex and difficult environment. The Infrastructure Grants Program (IGP) is an innovative program and reflects a commitment by Government to support research infrastructure. The IGP has as its aims the provision of significant funding accompanied by clear research objectives and criteria for accountability and introduces a rational basis for the allocation of infrastructure grants.

While NSW Health has progressed, there is an opportunity to make the IGP more efficient and effective. These opportunities are in the areas of addressing longer term planning issues in health, streamlining and clarifying eligibility and selection criteria, improving decision-making structures and processes and improving accountability.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #56 - released 25 November 1998