Page 2233 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 3 August 2022
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The documents reflect the personal experiences shared through the inquiry process and the opportunities for improvement identified by stakeholders. I would like to take the opportunity to thank all those who shared their personal experiences for the insights that these have provided. I want them to know that they have been heard. The experiences they have shared have helped shape the ongoing reform of our public maternity system as evidenced by Maternity in Focus and the first action plan.
While COVID-19 impacted the ability for some stakeholders to participate in this work, the ACT government is committed to continuing stakeholder collaboration through the implementation of Maternity in focus. One of the first actions the government is taking is to establish a stakeholder reference group, to help guide implementation and ensure that the government continues to be informed by consumers and experts.
As another first and critical step, the $12.1 million 2022-23 budget initiative that supports this plan, includes funding to implement a system-wide maternity satisfaction tool to ensure we can measure our progress, understand individual experiences and respond across our system to improve service delivery. The government is also investing to undertake an evaluation of Canberra maternity options to ensure it continues to work for consumers.
Over the next ten years, the government will continue to work with consumers and stakeholders to transform the public maternity system, looking at opportunities to innovate and evolve the system to meet future demands and expectations. Outlining our priorities over the next ten years, Maternity in Focus is designed to inform and prioritise practical steps to create sustainable and meaningful change across the service. The accompanying first action plan outlines the actions to be undertaken over the next four years based on evidence, best practice, consolidated consumer and stakeholder voices from the submissions to the inquiry, and experts across the service.
Maternity in Focus will deliver system and service level changes that better support the needs of individuals accessing the public maternity systems and our frontline health workers. The government has already commenced reforming the public maternity system, including: exploring opportunities to expand the homebirth model of care; work to deliver the new Early Pregnancy Assessment Unit at the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children; and a commitment to midwife and nurse to patient ratios in maternity services as part of phase two of ratios implementation and as a priority.
The commencement of work to implement nurse and midwife ratios in maternity is good news for mothers, pregnant people and their babies, and for the dedicated midwives and nurses in our public hospitals. It will also be a first for Australia which is why we need to start working through the detail now to get it right. I look forward to continuing this work with the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation ACT and our health services.
Through the inquiry we heard strong advocacy for increased continuity of care for women and pregnant people. In response to this, a focus of reform in the public maternity system is expansion of the continuity of care models. The ACT already has
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