Page 227 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 30 May 1989
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PUBLIC HOSPITAL REDEVELOPMENT - STEERING COMMITTEE
Ministerial Statement
MR BERRY (Minister for Community Services and Health), by leave: Before I begin my statement I would like to announce to this Assembly that I have taken up the matter, on which I will report, with other parties here. In October 1988 the Minister for the Arts and Territories, Mr Holding, commissioned Dr Brendon Kearney to conduct an independent review of health services in the ACT. The review was established to consider whether, having regard to population size and comparable services elsewhere in Australia, the level of health services in Canberra was adequate. Dr Kearney was also asked to recommend specifically on public hospital redevelopment needs in the ACT. I think members would all recall the publicity which surrounded the inquiry conducted by Dr Kearney.
One of Dr Kearney's key recommendations was that the one principal hospital concept be adopted in the ACT as a basis for restructuring hospital services and to provide for more efficient utilisation of health resources in the ACT. Mr Holding established a steering committee in February this year to develop further the concept and to report to the ACT Government by September 1989.
Briefly, the one principal hospital concept involves one major referral centre of around 600 to 700 beds supported by a community hospital of around 250 to 300 beds. The principal hospital would, from one site, provide the full range of specialties that are currently available at one or both of the two sites of our public hospitals. It would also be the major trauma centre and provide teaching and research facilities.
There are various options for implementing the one principal hospital concept, although Dr Kearney recommended the development of one of the major hospitals as the principal hospital, providing the full range of services presently provided by Royal Canberra Hospital and Woden Valley Hospital, to be complemented by a smaller community hospital.
The steering committee was appointed to look at all the issues associated with the range of options available and to report to me by September, as I have mentioned earlier. I believe it is imperative that the committee examines all possible options, and I have taken steps to ensure that this will happen. The membership of the committee includes representatives from the ACT Community and Health Service, the Public Hospitals Interim Board of Directors, Calvary Hospital and representatives from Treasury, Infrastructure Division and the Policy Development Branch within the ACT Administration.
I was, however, concerned that the membership did not include representatives of a significant sector of the community - namely, the trade union movement - since
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