Page 238 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 13 February 1991
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
When a Government cannot provide this type of basic service, it is most proper for the Opposition to raise it as a matter of public importance because it is, for those residents, of vital importance. As Mr Berry says, it is not much good ringing up the Ambulance Service and being told that staffing arrangements or other unforeseen circumstances have led to the station being closed. You are not concerned about why the station is closed; you want the ambulance there. I wonder whether people requiring an ambulance will be told, in the terms of the Minister's fine piece of rhetoric, which I refer to again, "The current absence factors are relevant to day to day deployment of staff". They do not want excuses, Mr Speaker; they want an ambulance.
DR KINLOCH (3.49): Mr Speaker, I have only a very small contribution to make here. Indeed, it is only one instance, but you will appreciate how very conscious I was of it. I was in this building on a Saturday afternoon - Mr Wood and Mr Stevenson were here, and perhaps others - and I had one of my fibrillation attacks. My wife came down; I was slumped on the pavement outside. I was aided to the car by Mr Sawatzki from the Education Department with my wife. They took me home and my wife called an ambulance. There was an ambulance there within minutes, two young men and a young woman. I wish, through the Minister, to thank him for the efficiency not only of Mr Sawatzki on that particular occasion but also of the Ambulance Service.
MR JENSEN (3.50): Mr Speaker, in relation to the provision of ambulance services within the ACT, it is important to remember that - and I am sure Mr Berry would have acknowledged this when he was the Minister responsible for provision of ambulances within the ACT - an ambulance station being closed for a particular period of time does not necessarily mean that an ambulance was not available.
As we know, and as the Minister has already indicated, it is proposed that there will be four on-duty ambulances at all times. Provided they are spread out over the city of Canberra, with a population of some 250,000 plus, it must be acknowledged that at various stages during the process there will be a number of call-outs for an ambulance. Murphy's law being what it is, there are often going to be occasions when a number of people require an ambulance at the same time, and it may even be possible that the number required exceeds the four available. Clearly, if we accept the fact that four provides a service - and it is a figure agreed to by the Government and the unions as appropriate to provide that service - there are going to be occasions, as Mr Berry I am sure will acknowledge, when it is quite possible that two or three of those services will be tied up at the one time.
Where do we stop? Do we provide eight or 10 ambulance services on the off-chance that we are going to have a problem requiring eight services all at once? At the times referred to by my colleague across the chamber Mr Connolly
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .