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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 06 Hansard (Wednesday, 23 June 2004) . . Page.. 2480 ..

What is important, however, is that when you add all the costs together—let me remind members that nursing home patients in acute hospital beds are costing $635 per day—you will find that they are close to $3 million. How can any hospital system possibly afford that sort of expenditure? Why has the minister not done something in the last 2½ years to relieve the pressure on the system by moving nursing home patients out of the hospitals and into nursing home accommodation?

As we all know, there are plenty of beds available from the Commonwealth. I think the figure is about 255 beds available. What have we seen in the last 2½ years? Welcome back, Mr Corbell. We have seen a lot of promises but we have seen no bricks and mortar. Let me repeat: there are Southern Cross Homes at Garran, St Andrew’s Village at Hughes, Calvary and there is the question of Goodwin Homes in Tuggeranong. Need I go on? We all know the numbers; we all know the figures. We have seen no attempt from this minister and this government to relieve the pressure of nursing home patients in acute hospital beds. Mr Corbell now attempts to blame the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Smyth, who has raised this matter today, for the fact that we are going to lose 40 transitional care beds.

This is an interesting question because I again received an answer to a question on notice yesterday—you have been a bit unlucky, haven’t you, Minister, that the answers have come through at this time—about the $5.15 million set aside for the sub non-acute care facility containing 60 beds for aged persons. Mr Corbell made much of this. Do you know when it was set aside, Mr Smyth?—in the 2003-04 budget! Why are we now being told that it is coming on line when construction is expected to be completed late in 2005 and the facility is expected to be operational early in 2006? Where is the planning in all this activity? Why has the government waited so long to get this off the ground? We are also told that “40 beds will be allocated for rehabilitation and transitional care services and 20 beds will be allocated for acute psychogeriatric care”. No money has yet been spent on this facility. Do not hold your breath. I asked: where is the money? When did construction commence? Has the money been expended yet? The answer is:

No. Detailed planning and consultations are currently underway ...

We have all heard that before. I also asked:

How much of the $5.15 million budgeted for this project has been expended to date?

The answer is:

None. Funds expended to date have been expended from the $0.3m feasibility funding provided in the 2002-03 Budget.

We are going even further back. Minister, you are really not in a position to attack this motion. I remind members that your dilatory behaviour—if not in health, then certainly in planning—has led to this very expensive situation. About $3 million, over a period of only over nine months, is being expended on nursing home patients who should not be in acute hospital beds. They are denying others the opportunity to go to hospital for more serious activities. The minister thinks that his new proposal to throw out the rehab section is somehow going to solve all these problems. Minister, the problems are of your making. The problems arise because, it would seem to me, sir, you pull the hats you wear

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