Page 564 - Week 04 - Thursday, 29 June 1989
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Association of the ACT about current administration policy to deregulate effectively the service station industry and a call by the MTA for all further action on proposals to add more service stations to the inventory of the ACT to be halted pending a ministerial inquiry? In view of this, will the Chief Minister instruct the interim territory planner to withdraw all draft variations to policy plans which involve service station sites until the issue can be fully examined?
MS FOLLETT: If I may, I will take that question on notice. I think it involves some quite complicated issues that need to be addressed, and I will provide the Assembly with a full answer as soon as I can.
Hospitals
MR MOORE: My question is directed to the Minister for Community Services and Health. I refer the Minister to his assurance reported in the Canberra Times of 22 June 1989 that there is no staffing crisis at Royal Canberra Hospital and a later report in the Canberra Times that emergency services at Woden Valley Hospital were in chaos last Saturday night.
Does this mean that the ACT Community and Health Service has adopted a crisis management policy based on shifting staffing problems from one hospital to the other, or is the Minister prepared to admit that Canberra's hospital system is in crisis? What steps is he prepared to take to bring this crisis to an end?
MR BERRY: First of all, there is no staffing crisis in the hospitals. I would call on the Residents Rally member to be more careful about the choice of words that he uses when he talks about our health system because that sort of language creates in the public some concern about the system. The fact is that some medical officers have resigned, and changed staffing arrangements have been implemented to cover the gaps which have been caused by those resignations.
At the same time advertisements have been placed to try to recruit more medical officers to the ACT Community and Health Service. In response to the member's final point as to whether the Royal Canberra Hospital is in crisis, it is not in crisis.
School Visit
MR WHALAN: I would like to respond to a question that was asked of me yesterday by Mr Humphries about Campbell primary school. While he may have thought that I took the issue lightly yesterday - - -
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