Page 3938 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 23 November 1993
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Mr Connolly: She wants to give in.
MR BERRY: Yes, she wants us to give in; to just give them the money back.
Ms Follett: At any price.
MR BERRY: At any price. Health costs have to come down, Mrs Carnell says, but doctors' costs can go up; it is all right. Calvary Public Hospital achieved continuation of its accreditation status from the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards in March 1993. ACT Health's Breast Screening Clinic, which opened in February this year, has been awarded one year's provisional accreditation by the National Program for the Early Detection of Breast Cancer. The clinic will be eligible to apply for a full three years' accreditation after it has been operating for a year.
In July 1992 ACT Health's Community Nursing Service became only the third major community nursing agency in Australia to be awarded three years' full accreditation by the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards. The accreditation survey covered the areas of administration, education, quality assurance, patient care, clinical practice, equipment and occupational health and safety. In October 1992 accreditation was granted for two years to the mental health post basic nursing course by the New South Wales College of Nursing. This is the only course other than that offered by the college to be accredited. So everybody is doing much better under Labor.
Mr De Domenico: Did the nurses agree with that statement that you just made?
MR BERRY: The nurses, the doctors, the food service workers, the tradespeople - all made a great contribution to earning that accreditation.
Mr Humphries: This will not save your bacon, Wayne. They all hate your guts.
MR BERRY: It was not an issue which one particular group could carry credit for. Mr Humphries, of course, had nothing similar happen when he was the Health Minister. What he did do was lock us into high costs, and he made it more difficult for future responsible governments to deal with. Reviews were carried out under the auspices - - -
Mrs Carnell: At least now you will not have to worry about costs. You have no doctors, you have no nurses, you have no patients.
MR BERRY: That is rubbish. That is just scaremongering. That is typical of Mrs Carnell - scaremongering all the time. Of course, when there is a bit of industrial dust flying the old vultures fly around and squawk, and Mrs Carnell is at it again.
Reviews were carried out under the auspices of the Australian Community Health Association, and the program review recommendations are being progressively implemented. Under the CHASP program, review recommendations are progressively implemented after the initial survey. It is expected that Tuggeranong Health Centre - do you remember that one, the one that you could not find, Mrs Carnell? - will be going for accreditation next year. I recall that you had as your co-pilot Trevor Kaine, so I am not surprised that you could not find it.
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