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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 4 Hansard (8 May) . . Page.. 1134 ..

Mr Berry: So, we are going to put some more in.

MRS CARNELL: No; Australia, not us. We are undersupplied; they are oversupplied. We should aim for an overall level of 3.5 beds per 1,000 population. The addition of 100 private hospital beds will reach that target for the ACT. So, if we add an extra 100 private beds, we actually reach the national target, Mr Speaker.

Second, on the possible interrelationship between the proposed private hospital and the Canberra Hospital: The ACT Government has made it clear that the private hospital cannot expect the Canberra Hospital or the ACT Government to contract work to it. That is quite simple. It is on the record. Third, on the impact on current public and private hospital beds: The private hospital will provide a range of services not currently provided in the private sector, thus filling a current unmet market niche here in the ACT.

Fourth, on the current and projected requirements of different types and categories of beds: Mr Berry seems to be obsessed with absolute bed numbers. I know that, in the past, he has made comments that bed numbers simply do not matter. We provide a wide range of services, and the bed numbers are merely one indication, as Mr Berry himself has often said, of the system's capacity to provide health services. The ACT private hospitals currently provide 240 beds which meet the needs of people with medium level complexity conditions. There is a gap in service of private hospital beds which provide complex levels of surgical and medical care in the ACT and the south-eastern region of New South Wales.

Mr Berry: Rubbish! We are better off than the rest of Australia already. We do not need any more of them.

MRS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, Mr Berry says, "Rubbish!". Somehow, he thinks that there actually are intensive care beds in the private sector here in the ACT.

Mr Berry: No; I did not say that. Do not put words into my mouth.

MRS CARNELL: I am sorry; he said that it was rubbish that there was an unmet need. The fact is that, if there are no intensive care beds in the private sector, there must be an unmet need, by the very nature of the equation, Mr Speaker.

Fifth - Mr Speaker, I think this is very important for those few members who are here at the moment - on the financial arrangements: As people would have seen from the budget figures, there is $2.1m up front. In the health budget, the one I brought down this week, there is a $2.1m direct payment from the private hospital to the ACT public hospital system, Mr Speaker. The rental payment for the site closely matches the Australian Valuation Office estimate, while other payments substantially add to the value of the project to the ACT. There are also significant opportunities for the Canberra Hospital to provide services to the new private hospital at a reasonable rate of return, which will provide an ongoing source of income. So, it is income flowing that way, Mr Speaker, not the other way.

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