Health Productivity

Treasury has been warning for some years about the lack of productivity or lack of increased outputs (let alone outcomes) in health despite the massive increases in funding.

Tony Ryall has pointed out that the number of first specialist appointments in 2007 was in fact 10,000 lower than in 2001 when records begun.

Note primary Y axis starts at 340,000 to align starting point with health spending.

The graph above shows both the level of first specialist appointments (a slight downwards trend) and the level of funding (in real terms) for Vote Health. Health spending has gone up 33% in real terms in six years, yet less people are seeing specialists for first appointments.