Page 1686 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 29 May 1990
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The project itself will be among the largest and most exciting hospital redevelopment schemes ever seen in Australia and it will present a significant boost to employment in the building industry in the ACT. However, as is the case with all such major developments, some people may be asked to confront greater change than others. This will be so for the staff of our public hospitals, in particular Royal Canberra.
The Government will guarantee absolute preference of employment for all staff of our public hospitals as services are progressively moved to new locations. As well, the Government is taking the necessary steps to ensure that staff involved in these transfers, including those to Calvary Hospital, will not be disadvantaged in terms of their employment conditions and entitlements.
There will be an overall reduction in staff numbers as we move to a more efficient and better public hospital system. This reduction will largely be met by natural attrition and redeployment. Where necessary, the Government will offer appropriate voluntary redundancy arrangements. There will be no compulsory separations.
In the planning of the redevelopment program and in the progressive introduction of change, trade unions and staff will be fully consulted before decisions are made about implementation. As the Chief Minister has already said, the Government is moving quickly to implement this important transformation of the public hospital system into one offering higher quality, improved opportunities for training and research and greater professional satisfaction for all staff.
I announced recently the Government's decision to establish a planning committee to guide and monitor the medical and health aspects of the upgrading and redevelopment work for our public hospitals. Appointments to this committee are being finalised now and I expect it to commence its work within two weeks.
Detailed planning for the hospitals will start immediately. This detailed exercise will be conducted with the assistance of expert private consultants and it will provide the opportunity for health professionals and other staff to be engaged actively in the planning for all new and upgraded facilities.
The Government is anxious to move quickly to achieve the improvements in quality and efficiency that the redevelopment program guarantees. The first step in the transfer of services from the Royal Canberra site to Woden and Calvary will occur in July this year with the movement of around 60 beds from Royal Canberra to Calvary. This will be followed by a similar move later in the year.
A detailed program for the transfer of all services from Royal Canberra will be developed quickly in consultation
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