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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 1 Hansard (22 February) . . Page.. 202 ..

MRS CARNELL (continuing):

There are immunisation clinics. These will continue, based on the planned 1996 program. The lactation clinic will continue. However, the postnatal review has recommended co-location with a family care centre. As the review recommendations are implemented, there could be some changes to the lactation clinic; but at this stage it is still there.

The nurse hearing clinic was relocated in November last year to a purpose built facility in Moore Street, Civic. This enabled a wider range of services to be provided, because the facility is purpose built. The nurse oncologist specialist service was located at Kippax because of a lack of space at a more appropriate location. No service was ever provided at Kippax by this staff member. The nurse has now been located near the palliative care and inpatient services. The stoma therapist, wound, continence nurse specialist service will be relocated in Civic with the Stoma Association. I think that is an appropriate co-location. The centralised continence clinic in the Civic location is more accessible to a wider range of people across Canberra.

There is the maternal and child health team. The administrative base of this team of nurses is located at Kippax. These nurses provide service at various locations throughout North Belconnen. There are plans to relocate the administration to Kaleen. This is to provide for reduced travelling time to Gungahlin and co-location with child and health development services. This change will not have an impact on actual services provided at Kippax at all. There is a speech therapy or speech pathology service. This service is provided by the child health and development service, which is establishing a multidisciplinary service in Kaleen as well. This new arrangement will come into effect over the next six months, although clinical sessions for speech pathology are still expected to be provided at Kippax.

There are sessional nutritional clinics. These will continue to be provided at Kippax by a health professional from the central catchment primary health care team. Physiotherapy services will continue to be provided at Kippax on an outreach basis from the Belconnen primary health care team. It is certainly true that central switchboard and reception services will no longer be provided from this building. Private tenants will provide their own reception staff, as they should. It would seem to me that that gives a fairly good run-down of the services and what is happening to them. Certainly, as well, the Government is currently attempting to negotiate new lease arrangements with the private practitioners who are located at Kippax Health Centre, unlike the previous Government that lost a lot of their private operators simply because they would not offer a lease.

Mr Berry: Mr Speaker, does that amount to an apology?

MR SPEAKER: Mr Berry, you will have to seek leave of the Assembly to withdraw your motion.

Mr Berry: Mr Speaker, I seek leave to withdraw my motion now that we have a full and complete answer to the question.

Leave granted.

Motion, by leave, withdrawn.

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