One has to laugh. As in Britain, the more money the Queensland government throws at its hospitals, the worse the service gets. But reality never bothers Leftists. Their simplistic theories are all they are mentally capable of handling

Almost 30 per cent of patients still wait too long for elective surgery despite millions of dollars being spent on state health reforms. Figures released yesterday showed 9600 Queenslanders endured long waits for elective surgery between January and March - 2300 more than at the same time last year. The number waiting more than 30 days for urgent category one operations increased by 400 per cent compared with last year.

But Health Minister Stephen Robertson said category one figures showed a slight improvement in more recent months. Only 13.7 per cent faced long waits in April compared with 18 per cent in December. He blamed increasing demand for emergency operations and the increasing population for the waiting lists and hoped the trend would turn by July. "We've made some gains and I would hope in three months time we will be able to demonstrate more gains, but this is tough," Mr Robertson said. The figures show an increase in numbers on the "secret" lists of those waiting to see a specialist. At March 1, more than 122,000 people were waiting for a specialist appointment, up 12 per cent from July 2004. Of these, 82,900 were waiting for a consultation which could lead to surgery and another wait.

AMA state president Steve Hambleton said the figures were not encouraging. Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg said the figures were a "disgrace" and showed the Beattie Government's maladministration of the state health system was continuing.

Cathleen Cantwell, 69, of Kirra on the Gold Coast, is one of thousands waiting for surgery in a Queensland hospital. She suffers from spinal canal stenosis, a condition that could leave her unable to walk. She has been booked in for surgery to correct the problem since December 2004, but is yet to see the inside of an operating theatre. And her problem is getting worse the longer she has to wait. "I can't walk very far at all especially on cement or bitumen . . . I'm in such pain when I walk," she said. She was hoping to have the operation before September so she could celebrate her 70th birthday and 50th wedding anniversary and "enjoy myself".

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