Page 5279 - Week 17 - Thursday, 13 December 1990
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repeatedly, we receive complaints in our respective offices from members of the community who have lodged complaints about the quality of services within the system.
It is always difficult for management to accept that it has done something wrong with the hospital system. That is why the Australian Labor Party has set out to provide a statutory body that would be able to consider complaints and which would be quite separate from the management structures of the hospital system; it would be able to examine, take evidence, interrogate witnesses and, of course, make decisions about any complaints that it received and determine the matters.
It seems to me, and I think the evidence is pretty clear when you have a look at the Government's response to this legislation tonight, that the Government has gone a bit shaky in the knees about this legislation. It started out all right in terms of quality assurance, but this Minister dropped the baton when a couple of people moved in the shadows. This Minister is very easy to shake off the mark when it comes to public services. It strikes me as odd that just because one strong lobby group takes the Minister on he should drop the bundle in terms of quality services for the people. He has certainly dropped it on quality assurance. I think the health services complaints council would do a lot for quality assurance as well, and that is why it was proposed.
We are about improving the hospital services in the Australian Capital Territory. We are not about winding them back and we are not about folding to the well-off in our community. Instead, we are about looking after the not so well-off in our community - the people who are not in a strong position, the sick, the people who are not able to afford expensive private hospital services, and so on.
I think those people have a right to feel abandoned by this Government. They have a right to be angry with this Government because of its laissez-faire approach to proper regulation to protect the community when it uses our public hospital system. I know that there would be some concerns about a strong council because it would put the pressure on management and it would put the pressure on the professions, but that was what it was intended to do. Nobody who delivers quality services would have anything to worry about, and I think this complaints council would have been welcomed by those people who do deliver quality services. It is the ones who do not deliver quality services who would have to be concerned about this council.
I am surprised that the Minister seems to be protecting mediocrity within our hospital system. That has been the approach right throughout this legislation. There has been ministerial protection for mediocrity within our hospital system. I think it is an outrageous position for us to find ourselves in. When the Canberra community learns of this - and I can assure you, Mr Speaker, that it will be informed - the Canberra - - -
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