Asked what difference a health consumer going to a hospital like Westmead might expect to experience as a result of the changes, Ms Owens was unable to provide a lot of detail.

``If we get this right, over time they will see hospitals that are more efficient at what they do, that are more creative at what they do and that work regionally to solve the health issues,'' Ms Owens said.

``There are a lot of conditions now where people are waiting longer than the recommended period. We believe we will see a reduction in those lists. We'll have more efficiency which actually makes more money available as well.''

The Premier, Kristina Keneally, also wants more detail. In a statement on Monday that was ``supportive ... of the historic new approach to health'', she listed 10 points on which the state government was seeking clarification.

Among other things, Ms Keneally wants to know how the proposed new funding and organisational arrangements will lead to better aligned services between primary care and hospital care and the range of services to be included in the definition of primary care.

Ms Owens was also unable to say what would become of the area health services which control the delivery of health care across the state.

``There's eight state and federal [area health services] now so we won't see that. There will clearly be a reduction in the central bureaucracies. But there will be a building of people who work in the local area.

``I can't tell you at the moment whether that's the Western Area Health Service, I don't know that. There's a lot of work to be done on what an area looks like.''

Ms Owens also rejected the suggestion that the government might fail to explain the policy sufficiently to the community, as was the case with the carbon emissions trading scheme.