Page 2919 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 12 October 2022
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
We on this side of the chamber know how important this commitment has been. In a challenging national and international environment for health care, investing in our workforce is key, and that is why the government has also committed to a $7.2 million package to continue our work to embed a positive safety culture across our public health system—delivering on the next steps of the nurses and midwives Towards a Safer Culture strategy that was developed with the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation and was delivered in partnership with them and with our staff. We will deliver more occupational violence training and improve safety infrastructure across the Canberra Hospital campus with this funding. The significant expansion in funding for the Towards a Safer Culture strategy reflects our commitment to build on the success of the first phase and to deliver a better and safer workplace for our dedicated staff.
Reflecting on the subsequent post-budget announcement, Mr Assistant Speaker, again, I respect your views about this matter, but I can assure you that this fund was and will be co-designed with staff. That is why we had some fantastic nurses standing up with us in relation to the announcement and talking about the work they have been doing on the working group that engages staff in co-designing these initiatives, both territory wide and at the individual team level, to ensure that that funding is delivering exactly what the staff prioritise and what they say they need.
Of course, the government has been delivering a comprehensive plan for the future of our health system. A key commitment and significant reform is the implementation of the digital health record. The government is ensuring that our frontline workforce will be best placed to take advantage of the digital health record, with more than $51 million committed through this budget.
“Go live” on this significant project is rapidly approaching. In fact, it is 30 days—one month—away today. This will deliver improved safety, improved care and better outcomes for Canberrans. It is a huge project and it will transform the way care is provided. This funding ensures that we have skilled super users and training for all of our staff completed as part of the “go live”, in readiness for this digital innovation.
The government has also made a down payment on the future of our health system with a $6 million investment to boost our core regulatory planning and governance capabilities. This investment will boost our system for years to come, with funding to plan our future workforce to ensure we have the right mix being trained, recruited and retained; implement a whole-of-system clinical system governance framework to deliver a clinically excellent system that is continually improving its service delivery; enhance our regulation of healthcare facilities to ensure Canberrans are receiving the best care in the safest environments, and ensuring that, as our public health system continues to grow in scope, scale and complexity, the government is receiving expert independent advice and analysis, with the establishment of a local hospital network council.
A small investment in the scheme of things but one that I was very pleased to make was the $260,000 that has been set aside to support the development of the ACT Disability Health Strategy and its corresponding first action plan. This is a key commitment that I was proud to make during the last election campaign, and I look forward to continuing to work with those living with a disability, their families and
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video