The NSW Government’s ‘program evaluation initiative’, introduced to assess whether service delivery programs achieve expected outcomes and value for money, is largely ineffective according to a report released today by NSW Auditor-General, Margaret Crawford.

Government services, in areas such as public order and safety, health and education, are delivered by agencies through a variety of programs. In 2016–17, the NSW Government estimates that it will spend over $73 billion on programs to deliver services.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #277 - released 3 November 2016

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

The Country Towns Water Supply and Sewerage Program has effectively promoted adoption of better management practices by local water utilities, but will not achieve its objective of eliminating the water supply and sewerage infrastructure backlog in urban areas of country NSW.
 
The $1.2 billion Program aims to help local water utilities provide appropriate, affordable, cost effective and well-managed water supply and sewerage services in the urban areas of country NSW. It has two broad elements:

• promoting adoption of better practices 
• providing financial assistance towards the capital cost of infrastructure backlog works.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #251 - released 4 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 Department’s framework for VET reform has the potential to effectively achieve the government’s immediate objectives for the reform, which are associated with meeting its commitments under the National Partnership Agreement for Skills Reform without spending more. We found that the government is addressing VET reform objectives in the following order of priority: no extra cost (budget neutrality), TAFE viability, quality VET, access to VET for regions and equity groups, more contestability, student choice. Overall, we conclude that a more balanced approach, by putting more emphasis on increased contestability and student choice, is more likely to maximise the public value for the government’s investment in VET.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #249 - released 29 January 2015

Area Health Services and hospitals have developed programs which can provide clinical outcomes as good for patients as in-hospital care and can reduce the time they spend in hospital. They have operated for several years and show considerable potential. Ageing of the population, increasing costs and higher expectations of health care will continue to challenge health systems. Sometimes, unfortunately, the system struggles to cope. 

Parliamentary reference - Report number #182 - released 24 September 2008

Both Commerce and DPI substantially achieved their stated amalgamation savings objectives as set by government. The departments are expected to achieve savings targets of about $150 million and $190 million respectively over their first four years. Our analysis indicates that there are two key factors in successful amalgamations. The first is effective early planning by departments based on clear objectives, supported by quick action. Second, significant synergies in service delivery can be achieved when departments with similar services and customers are amalgamated. The Department of Primary Industries is an example.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #175 - released 5 March 2008

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

We recognise that managing waiting times is a difficult and complex task. Waiting times are influenced by many factors, some of which are outside the control of NSW Health. There are, however, steps which NSW Health could, and should, take to ensure that the processes to manage waiting times are efficient and effective. By all measures used by NSW Health, patients are waiting longer for elective treatment today than six or seven years ago. In March 2003 patients admitted to elective medical or surgical treatment had waited, on average, 1.8 months, whereas in March 1997 they would have waited on average 1.1 months.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #116 - released 18 September 2003

The Northside Storage Tunnel was the first major public sector construction project using an alliance approach. In our opinion, the outcome of the project suggests that an alliance approach, when applied to a suitable project and managed appropriately, can support positive project outcomes. And in many respects the Alliance worked well. There are, however, a number of issues that we believe need to be addressed for future alliances.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #113 - released 24 July 2003