Page 1086 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 20 March 1991
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Hospital Redevelopment - Radiology
MRS GRASSBY: My question is directed to Mr Humphries, Minister for Health, Education and the Arts. Given the concern expressed in today's Canberra Times by the Director of Radiology that the 3,600 square metres currently occupied by his department is to be reduced to approximately 2,500 in the redevelopment, will the Minister undertake to review the decision in order to ensure that the ACT health services are not downgraded?
MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, I have said this so many times in this place that I am almost hoarse with saying it: There is no way you can characterise this redevelopment project in our public hospital system as a downgrading. It is clearly a significant upgrading of the services.
Mr Connolly: That is not what the doctors say in the paper. The doctors are wrong; the Opposition is wrong; the nurses are wrong; the Canberra Times is wrong.
MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Connolly interjects that that is not what the doctors are saying; but I would, with the greatest respect, differ with him. I do not think that one doctor's opinion, or even a handful of doctors' opinion, necessarily constitutes a consensus with respect to what is going on in our hospital system.
The fact of life is that that view that has been expressed is one view. It is a perfectly legitimate view and I am quite prepared to accept that that view is held, but it is quite another thing to show that that is, in fact, a genuine concern about the future of hospital redevelopment. The fact of life is that all the areas of the hospital are experiencing significant opportunity to upgrade and that the hospital redevelopment will produce a substantially better level of service, because of the superior quality of facilities available through the hospital redevelopment. It is simply mischievous for some people to suggest that this is, in fact, a retrograde step. I stand by the view - - -
Mr Connolly: This doctor is mischievous, is he?
MR HUMPHRIES: The assertion that there is some diminution of quality in the area in which that doctor works is mischievous, yes. I am sorry, but the fact of life is that all areas of the hospital are going to experience upgrading as a result of that redevelopment. That is the objective of the Government; it will be the achievement of the Government, and a substantial part of those objectives will be achieved in the next 12 months. I have to say that it is very unfortunate that one person's views, or the views of a small number of people, on so-called inadequacies in this process are given so much coverage in newspapers and on programs on television and radio.
Mr Kaine: And by the Opposition.
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