Page 181 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 23 February 1994
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Mr De Domenico: Ideological grounds.
MR BERRY: No. I was advised not to approve it because it was unnecessary. It was not long before Mr Humphries was in. I suspect that the advice was the same.
Mr De Domenico: It is private money.
MADAM SPEAKER: Mr De Domenico, I have called you to order. Order!
MR BERRY: The advice was the same, but Mr Humphries approved it. We have a situation, therefore, where some years have passed and things have changed in the public hospital system. We have to work out very carefully a model which suits the whole of the ACT, not just a few obstetricians who want a hospital of their own, not just for the wealthy.
Mr De Domenico: Or privately insured patients like you.
MADAM SPEAKER: Mr De Domenico, I have already spoken to you once. Order!
MR BERRY: Mr De Domenico, you can rest assured that I will not be using an obstetrics wing, if you have not noticed. We have to make sure that the private system fits into what we are doing for all of the ACT. We have invited discussion from John James Hospital on this very issue a couple of times, I am informed, and they have not agreed to those discussions at this point. We will be discussing the issue of how we are going to provide obstetric services in the ACT as a whole. The private system, regardless of your view, plays an important part in the delivery of health services in the ACT, and we, of course, accept that. But it is a very small part of the services which are provided and, therefore, will not wag the dog. It will not wag the dog. What I am most careful about is making sure that we have an accessible public hospital system for everybody, and I intend to make sure that the discussions with John James Hospital confirm an outcome which will deliver that.
Mr Humphries: Is it not a bit late? Should we not have done this three years ago?
MR BERRY: You are the one who made the big mistake. Since you are the one who made the big mistake - - -
Mr Humphries: Why did you not reverse it as soon as you came into office, not three years later?
MR BERRY: The advice would have been the same. I was advised not to do it and it was only a few months later that you turned it around, so I do not think the advice changed. A lot of things have changed in the delivery of obstetric services in the ACT. We have a new obstetrics block which is designed to accommodate the needs of Canberra up to the year 2000, and that does not take into account the provision of private hospital services either. Our public hospital obstetrics block and the services we provide from Calvary are capable of dealing with our needs to the year 2000. So there we have it, Madam Speaker. The Government has to go through a lot of discussion on these issues, and it will do so, in order to provide first-class services for the people of the ACT.
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