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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 2 Hansard (27 February) . . Page.. 330 ..

MRS CARNELL (continuing):

Members will be aware, I assume, that on 2 February, in the Industrial Relations Commission, a decision was handed down to implement a six-month trial of the triple-eight nursing roster, a roster that existed at Woden Valley Hospital before - - -

Ms McRae: Tell us the rest. Go on. Then what happened?

MRS CARNELL: I am very happy to tell you the rest. It existed before there was the amalgamation of Canberra Hospital and Woden Valley Hospital. It still exists today at Calvary Hospital, a hospital that I assume you would not believe has bad nursing care. The rosters were supposed to be implemented from the 22nd of this month. However, on 8 February, members of the ANF and the HSUA held a 24-hour strike when a commission decision had occurred. Commissioner Larkin, I think it was, determined that the unions should go down the appeal path. We now have a situation where an appeal has been listed for 1 April this year in the commission.

I believe that all people involved in this situation should abide by their agreement, and the agreement between the Government and the ANF was that this situation would not be politicised. What have we seen since then? They actually agreed not to politicise this situation. We have seen rallies over in Civic, with Bob McMullan there - totally at odds with an agreement that was made in the Industrial Relations Commission. We saw the situation this morning. That does not indicate to me that people were really interested in the decision that was made.

Getting back to Mr Osborne's question, the reality is that at Woden Valley Hospital it costs us 30 per cent more to treat a particular patient than the Federal Government is willing to pay us. If we do not address that costing factor, what will happen is what happened under the previous Government, and that is a blow-out in waiting lists. I think that when they took over it blew out from 1,790-odd to over 4,500 over four years. That is what happens if you do not address the basic issues of costs in our system. Since we took over, waiting lists have fallen marginally because we are treating more patients. But by treating more patients our budget has blown out because we simply cannot address the bottom line issues. I believe - obviously, unlike others in this place, but I am sure that Mr Osborne agrees with me - that we must treat patients, that we must treat patients at a top quality level, and that we must address the cost issues. That is what we are doing.

MR OSBORNE: I have a supplementary question, Mr Speaker. Thank you for that, Mrs Carnell. That was very informative.

Ms Follett: I will bet that that has reassured you.

MR OSBORNE: Yes. Mrs Carnell, specialised education courses are essential for our nurses in order to keep up with the latest technology and standards of care. Given what you just said, how will nurses' education be carried out under your proposed triple-eight roster, where there is no overlap of shifts? Will the nurses be expected to come in unpaid, to work during their own time?

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