Page 5275 - Week 17 - Thursday, 13 December 1990
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Powers of Council
46C.(1) The Council shall have the power to receive and investigate complaints about any service provided in a health facility. The Council shall have the power to receive complaints, conduct any investigation, call witnesses, have access to records and information held by a member of staff, nurse, or a consultant in relation to a service in a health facility.
(2) The Council shall have the power to determine any such matter, subject to the right of appeal to the Tribunal.".
What I intend to do in the course of debate on this issue is to demonstrate how the Government has misled the people of the ACT in terms of hospital services. Just a few days ago we heard Mr Kaine's attempt to mislead the people of New South Wales at the NSW-ACT Consultative Forum, when he said that the people of New South Wales would not have any less hospital services. Of course, they will have less hospital services. That has been shown. It has even been admitted by the Minister for Health. But the Chief Minister still tries to peddle the red herring that hospital services will not be reduced. They will be reduced. Of course, if there is not a satisfactory health services complaints council the delivery of quality health services will decline as well.
I want to demonstrate to members of the Assembly the state of the complaints unit within the Community Services and Health Department. If you have a look at the 1990 version of the telephone book and you search through until you find the Community Services and Health Department, you will find that the complaints and information unit has the same phone number as the public affairs unit. That clearly indicates that the complaints unit is really a public relations exercise, and not any more than that. What the Labor Party has set out to do, in accordance with the policy which was in place while I was Minister, is to establish a health services complaints council in this legislation. Now, what we would like to ask the Government is: is this the one it will agree to? I am just trying to draw the winning ticket in the lottery. Is this the clause that it will agree to?
Mr Humphries: To quote you, we will do it the hard way.
MR BERRY: So petty is the Government that its members will not even tell us whether they agree to the clause or not. We will press on with it. What I am disappointed about is that the Chief Minister has left the chamber and is not going to be involved in the debate.
The fact that presents itself here is the absence of any real health services complaints unit. It has not worked in the past. It certainly became clear to me that it was not working as well as it ought to when I was the Minister, and
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