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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 06 Hansard (Wednesday, 23 June 2004) . . Page.. 2468 ..

Guidelines allow for recent trends towards community based rehabilitation and are more consistent with the results of other planning methodologies outlined below.

Based on that, we are short by 31 beds. They are estimating that we will need this in 2006, but it says here “ACT population estimated 326,300”. We are already at 332,000, so on that figure we are probably above. The figure in the report might not include those under the age of 15, who are normally not considered to need rehabilitation or are not in the rehabilitation figures.

We have a minister who has allowed this service to drop from approximately 14 beds to under 10 beds. He has a report that is two years’ old that says that, in fact, you are already short 31 beds—and he wants to close more beds. That is effectively what he is doing: he is closing beds permanently. Beds that are temporarily closed because of a lack of medical specialists to assist Mr Corbell are going to close permanently. He is going to take that opportunity away, knowing well that he should be planning to open another 31 beds in the next two years and another 41 beds beyond that in five years time. Where is the logic in this? Will we lose the jewel in the crown purely and simply because of Mr Corbell’s incompetence in dealing with his portfolio?

RILU is an important service. I have received a number of letters, as I am sure other members have, from people who have been through RILU, from people who have had family members there and from people who work there. All of them say that this is a fabulous service and it should not go. The interesting thing is that the process to accredit RILU is underway, even as Mr Corbell seeks to shut the facility. That is smart. Why start the process at all and then decide to close the facility? It is interesting that Mr Daniel O’Connor from the Accreditation Working Party went to RILU on 12 May. I will read a paragraph from this other document that I have. It says:

In my preparation for Accreditation, I was aware of the need to focus on evidence and outcomes. On May 12th I met with Mr Daniel O’Connor (Accreditation Working Party) at RILU. I took great pleasure in talking about the successes of RILU, showing him around and answering his questions. He repeatedly asked me how we ‘sold’ the unit. He wanted to know how much thought and action had gone into promoting the unit, how we told other health facilities, medicos about the work we did, and the outcomes achieved at RILU…Daniel encouraged me to think about how we would improve in this area.

Instead, on 20 May, they found out that in fact RILU was not going to be improved; that they were not going to tell the people how well they were doing; and that Mr Corbell was instead going to shut RILU. I ask members to support this motion to stop that action.

MR CORBELL (Minister for Health and Minister for Planning) (11.15): What we have heard from the Leader of the Opposition is an ultimatum to this Assembly that, if his motion is supported, this community will be denied 40 aged care transitional care beds in the ACT. That is the proposition that Mr Smyth is putting on the table for members today. He is saying, “Support my motion—but, sorry, by the way, 40 aged care transitional care beds will not be available to people who are currently in acute care beds in our hospitals.” Mr Smyth is saying, “Sorry, we are not going to support a proposal which will help free up access block and bed block in our hospitals. We are not going to support a proposal that would allow more people to be seen in our emergency departments. We are not going to support a proposal which would facilitate better care

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