Page 1488 - Week 05 - Thursday, 13 May 2021
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MRS JONES: Well, I am talking to this minister, here. These matters are horrendous and some of them at least are still going on because I am receiving direct complaints about them. We cannot put our hand on our heart at this point and say that we know things are getting better. We do not know that for sure because we do not have a statistical basis. I really hope that, as a result of this motion, a statistical basis comes to fruition. It is very important.
The Healthcare Consumers Association spoke to me yesterday about whether there is a possibility of a set of performance indicators under each of the measures, where we actually track and measure the responses year to year. It would have to be independently measured, ideally not by a government agency. We really want this data to be totally trustworthy and correct. We want those matters to be resolved so that people can grow confidence to go to work in the ACT’s health system. Therefore, I move:
Add to part (3)(b)
“and report on measures on all matters identified in (2).”
MS STEPHEN-SMITH (Kurrajong—Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Minister for Families and Community Services and Minister for Health) (3.58): We will be supporting Mrs Jones amendment to my amendment. I am very happy to report back on that. I omitted to say in my earlier remarks that the measures of success have been an ongoing topic of conversation in the culture review oversight group, and we are developing a data dashboard that will have internal data in relation to it. The BPA culture surveys are undertaken by an independent organisation and are evidence based, so the dashboard will sit alongside our ongoing working culture surveys as well.
Amendment agreed to.
Ms Stephen-Smith’s amendment, as amended, agreed to.
MRS JONES (Murrumbidgee) (3.59): I thank all present today for this debate; it goes to show what can be done when people approach sensitive topics in the best way that we possibly can, with total understanding of the humans involved. In this case, it is the humans involved in the health system. I want with all my heart for the nurses, doctors, allied health professionals, midwives, and administrators in our system to go to work and have a reasonably good experience at work. There are always going to be human systems, but I want people to be able to go to work confidently and go home with their dignity, and we know that sometimes that does not occur.
I want to be able to assure the community that change is coming after all the efforts and the courage shown, especially by the nurses who wrote the public letter some years ago about what was happening in their experience of work. I want the legacy they have left is that the system actually changes.
I am very appreciative of the support for my amendment to the minister’s amendment, because that shows that we can have a discussion that has an even more productive
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