00:00A tit-for-tat over health spending and a budget looking more and more unwell.
00:08You cannot tell me this Labor government didn't have any idea of what was going on before
00:14the election.
00:15We were very upfront in the 24-25 budget that we were seeing demand and cost pressures across
00:20our system.
00:21A surge in demand at Canberra's public health facilities has forced the government to make
00:26a major cash injection, blowing out this year's deficit to almost a billion dollars.
00:32Questions now over when the government first knew the budget needed a top-up.
00:38The Minister says the early signs came when the new critical services building at the
00:42Canberra Hospital opened in August, though it took longer to realise the extent of the
00:48problem.
00:49When we came back in after the caretaker period, the message from Canberra Health Services
00:53was, Minister, this pressure has not only continued, but it has escalated.
00:58The answer not satisfying the opposition, claiming the trends have been clear for years.
01:04It has come home to roost this week that this government has not prepared for the position
01:11that we're in.
01:12As the Territory's public hospitals face more pressure, Calvary John James Private Hospital
01:18at Deakin is slated for a facelift, adding two operating theatres but reducing bed numbers.
01:25As Calvary says, fewer surgeries need an overnight stay.
01:29We will see greater throughput, fewer beds.
01:32The reality is we don't use every bed that's in this place today.
01:36The government will be watching closely for any flow-on effects of this change on a public
01:41system already under pressure.
01:43For now, attention turns to the next budget.
01:46If there's no drop in patient demand, debates over how to meet the government's largest
01:51expense aren't likely to go away.
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