Page 934 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 19 April 1994
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The next task in the establishment of the school is the selection of crucial members of academic staff. When the school is fully established it will consist of eight academic units: Medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, psychiatry, diagnostic services, primary care and, importantly - given the Chief Minister's recent statement - aged care. We will have a speciality in aged care. The creation of the school will lead to the appointment of a further six to 10 highly qualified people to the hospital, which in turn will increase the overall level of expertise available to the community in both the ACT and surrounding regions. It is essential that these appointments be made as soon as possible, both to expedite the development of the clinical school and to meet the urgent needs of certain disciplines within the health system.
It is envisaged that the process of establishing the school will be divided into two phases, the first being the setting up of a program that can deal with the final three clinical years of the current six-year course at the University of Sydney. This phase will commence from the beginning of 1995 and will include the development of a curriculum for undergraduate medical students at teaching venues which will come under the auspices of the Canberra clinical school. The second part of the process will be the introduction of the four-year postgraduate degree in 1997, which will obviously provide a further professional development opportunity for medical professionals in Canberra. A postgraduate program will build on the existing research and development strengths of the ACT medical community, particularly those existing in the well-developed community medicine network and the John Curtin School of Medical Research.
Mr Deputy Speaker, the establishment of the clinical school will bring a number of other benefits to the ACT. Up to 90 students will eventually be taking up places in the ACT, and there is a possibility of attracting overseas students who will enrol or are enrolled in the school of medicine at the University of Sydney to further their training here in Canberra. This will impact on the local economy through the provision of accommodation and services for students. The Canberra Business Council believes that the establishment of the clinical school will also have a considerable multiplier effect on Canberra's employment base.
Mr Deputy Speaker, with the commissioning of the major components of the $172m redevelopment project for the Woden Valley Hospital and the establishment of the Canberra clinical school as part of the faculty of medicine in the University of Sydney, Canberra has now been provided with a unique opportunity to develop and augment centres of medical excellence. The development of these centres of excellence will be based on the delineation of roles between hospitals and a coordinated approach to the provision of a continuum of care and services to the health clients of the ACT and surrounding regional New South Wales. Mr Deputy Speaker, I intend to take every advantage of these opportunities to improve the health services and the overall well-being of the people of Canberra and the surrounding region. I present a copy of this statement and move:
That the Assembly takes note of the paper.
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