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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 08 Hansard (Thursday, 5 August 2004) . . Page.. 3532 ..

MRS DUNNE (4.02): Mr Deputy Speaker, I have much pleasure in speaking in this matter of public importance debate about the ongoing crisis in the ACT public hospital system. Mr Wood, the Acting Minister for Health, concluded his remarks by saying, “We need to have a debate but what is being put forward by the opposition is inaccurate and doesn’t relate to reality.” He said earlier in the piece that our assertions were overblown and ludicrous and that he wanted a reasonable and sensible debate.

I had a speech prepared but I have just torn it up. About five minutes into Mr Smyth’s speech a letter and position paper from the ACT faculty of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine was delivered to Mr Smyth’s office via courier. It is quite fortuitous that this should arrive and I think we should share with Assembly members some of the things being said by our foremost emergency specialists. The letter is signed by a range of well-known Canberra doctors, including the director of emergency at Calvary hospital and the associate professor of emergency medicine at the Canberra Hospital. I will read some of the letter. The letter commenced:

We the undersigned representing the ACT faculty of the “Australasian College for Emergency Medicine” (ACEM), wish to draw your attention to a progressive worsening in Emergency Department performance and overcrowding.

Attached is the ACT faculty of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine Position Paper on Access Block and hospital overcrowding. Included are excerpts from the paper on Access Block and Overcrowding in Emergency Departments produced by the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine released in 24 April 2004 and the NSW Auditor-General’s on Transport and Treating Emergency Patients released on 28 July 2004.

The covering letter goes on to say:

The problem of overcrowding is indisputable in the ACT. That there are negative consequences for performance, adverse event rates, compromise of privacy and staff retentions has been documented repeatedly in other settings.

The ACT public hospitals are both significantly affected. The declining ratio of inpatient beds per 100,000 population has been associated with a 54% increase in ED workload and a 500% increase in patients experiencing excessive waiting time.

I repeat that—a 500 per cent increase in patients experiencing excessive waiting time. The letter continues:

Dissatisfaction at this current situation by the public and the staff is profound.

It is key to addressing this problem to recognise that the fundamental issue is inadequate numbers of inpatient beds. Enhancing of after hours GP services, while a laudable plan, will not have a measurable effect on Emergency Department performance.

They go on to talk about the position paper that is attached to the letter. I will read from the executive summary in that document and at the end of my presentation I will seek leave to table the letter and the paper. The executive summary reads:

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