Minister for Health, Michelle O’Byrne today welcomed the Australian National Audit Office’s (ANAO) finding that Tasmania has consistently met its obligations under funding agreements for the Mersey Community Hospital.
The ANAO’s Final Report which follows a performance audit into the Mersey Community Hospital found that the Department of Health and Human Services was meeting its obligations under the 2008 and 2011 Heads of Agreement.
Ms O’Byrne said in the majority of cases clinical services are either meeting or exceeding established national targets.
“In particular, the emergency department, elective surgery, inpatient management and the High Dependency Unit are performing strongly against national benchmarks.”
Ms O’Byrne said the ANAO made five recommendations in the final report, three of which related to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
“I welcome the scrutiny applied by the ANAO and accept the three recommendations directed at the DHHS to strengthen processes to guide hospital operations and improve transparency of expenditure reporting.
“Taken together, the three recommendations will allow greater scrutiny of financial, clinical and the safety and quality of services at the Mersey.
“What this report shows is that this is a system that works well and is delivering for the local community.
“I welcome independent input as we continue to look for ways to improve services for the Mersey community,” Ms O’Byrne said.
While the Mersey Community Hospital operates as part of the Tasmanian Health system, it has been owned by the Commonwealth since November 2007 and operated and managed by the Tasmanian Government since September 2008.
In 2012, The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) commenced an audit to look into the hospital’s management, operation and funding.
This is the first audit conducted by the ANAO using the amendments to the Auditor-General Act 1997 which allows the Auditor-General to audit Australian Government funded, state-run partnerships, such as the Mersey.
Source: ahha.asn.au