Page 526 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 16 February 2005
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(c) the ACT Government was aware of this failure in mid-2004 and concealed this information from the public; and
(2) calls on the Government to table the full ACHS report by close of business today.
Mr Speaker, I am moving this motion today because I believe it is vital that the Canberra community is fully informed about the state of their hospital system. As we know anecdotally, the Canberra Hospital is struggling. Just last week we had the case of a man who had broken his pelvis and who waited 22 hours to be admitted to the hospital, which is bad enough. But this was compounded by his having to wait five days before getting surgery. And if that was not enough, this man was in a bed in the neurosurgery ward, meaning that there were not enough beds available for that week’s neurosurgical operations. As members are aware, the elective surgery waiting lists are climbing ever upward, and after the January holidays we can expect the waiting list to hit an all time high of over 5,000 Canberrans waiting for surgery.
Mr Speaker, this is not an attack on the nurses, the doctors, the allied health professionals and the clerical staff that run the hospital. This is about the health reforms put in place by this government that has seen a blow-out in waiting times, waiting lists; in the meeting of the various categories for patients to be seen in a timely manner; in bypass, a feature we never had before; in ambulances being used as hospital wards; in that amazing letter from the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine saying that they could not guarantee patients’ safety; and now the debacle over the hospital not gaining the full four-year accreditation from the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards.
What we have not known is why they failed. And they have failed, because what they did not get was full accreditation. What the public were not told was why and what, indeed, the full accreditation had not been gained. Who knew? The government knew. When? Well, the government knew way back in May last year but did not see fit to inform the community. No doubt this was craven cowardice in an election year.
Mr Speaker, the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards, the ACHS, has been gradually introducing a new edition of its assessment tool known as EQuIP. Under the EQuIP rating tools, there are 43 criteria, 19 of which are mandatory. Criteria are assessed as low achievement, some achievement, moderate achievement, extensive achievement or outstanding achievement. And from 1 January this year the Australian Council of Healthcare Standards has stated that organisations will have to reach a minimum of moderate achievement against all 19 mandatory criteria to attain accreditation.
As part of the transitional arrangements, the Australian Council of Healthcare Standards announced in a press release—and I quote directly from them:
In response to concerns expressed by some EQuIP members, the ACHS Board decided at their meeting in August 2002, to extend the period of phase-in for the nineteen mandatory criteria in EQuIP 3rd edition until the end of 2004. This means that all organisations will have the advantage of the phase-in period for their first survey in EQuIP 3rd edition as all organisations will have either an Organisation-Wide Survey or Periodic Review during 2003-2004.
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