Page 2258 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 3 August 2022
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I am not going to agree with Ms Castley’s assertion. I recognise the comments that have been made by the nurse that were reported in the Canberra Times, but I am not going to support or agree with Ms Castley’s assertion that people in corridors are not being monitored.
MS CASTLEY: Minister, have any patients died in the hospital corridors and, if so, how many?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I think this really speaks to Ms Castley’s growing reputation as the ‘member for fearmongering’. This is an absolutely outrageous thing to ask in this place—to make that assertion with no evidence whatsoever.
Ms Castley: Madam Speaker, I wish to raise a point of order. There was no assertion; I asked if any patients had died and, if so, how many. It was just a clarifying question.
MADAM SPEAKER: I am going to let the minister continue with her response.
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: The insinuation in that question is absolutely reprehensible.
Ms Castley: What insinuation?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: It goes to Ms Castley’s fearmongering approach to this portfolio.
Mr Hanson: Madam Speaker, I raise a point of order on relevance. It is a pretty straightforward question. There is no assertion being made. It is a direct quote from a nurse who said that she is afraid of “finding someone dead in a bed”. It is a very reasonable question, and the minister should answer it: how many patients have died in a hospital corridor? It is a straightforward question. Rather, what she is doing is attacking the member who asked the question. It is a reasonable question to ask.
MADAM SPEAKER: The minister is in order. It is a supplementary question also around ramping and patients in corridors, and the minister—
Ms Castley: No-one said anything about ramping.
MADAM SPEAKER: There was not a question on ramping. I accept that, but it was included in the response.
Mr Hanson: Madam Speaker, on relevance: she is not actually answering the question; she is spending her time attacking the shadow minister.
MADAM SPEAKER: She has 30-odd seconds left and half of her time has been used in points or order.
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I have been assured by Canberra Health Services that that is not the case. But I will take the question on notice in order to get further information for Ms Castley about how patients are managed in corridors.
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