Page 3332 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 14 November 2007
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There is one line of accountability now. We involve health professionals in decisions around how the health system runs. We involve the community in how the health system runs. We have got the ACT Health Council, chaired by Kate Moore, which looks into aspects of the health system.
Mrs Dunne: Aspects.
MS GALLAGHER: All aspects; they are not constrained by anything. They provide advice to me. The Health Council is made up of eminent representatives across our community—health professionals, community members. They are all there having a look at the health system and providing advice. They are there to do that for the government.
Mr Stefaniak: That was all there for disability services, and you had an inquiry, and rightly so. Have an inquiry now.
MS GALLAGHER: There is simply no reason to have an inquiry into the health system along the lines that Mr Stefaniak is proposing. In fact, in terms of some of the allegations that are being made that the health system is not coping—
Mr Stefaniak: Doctors and nurses would like an inquiry.
MR SPEAKER: Order! Mr Stefaniak.
MS GALLAGHER: If you simply look at the investment the government has made in recent years, we have got 147 new beds dealing with the amount of pressure that we have seen, the increases in demand for services. We continue to increase bed numbers; we continue to increase doctor numbers; we continue to increase nursing staff; we continue to increase allied health professionals; we continue to look at our community health providers. We are planning for the future. I know I have been criticised in this place in the past for having too many plans and not enough delivery. We are planning for the future for chronic disease management, early intervention, prevention and health promotion.
This government is tackling the pressures that will face this community in years to come on all fronts. We are dealing with the acute sector; we are dealing with the subacute sector; we are dealing with health in the community; we are dealing with early intervention; we are testing our year 6 kids to see how fit they are and to see what we can do to make sure that when they become adults they are not going to present this community with a health problem that we cannot respond to.
All our indicators in our national health performance show improvement of the ACT’s health system over recent years. Our access block at the emergency department is declining. We have opened new beds to get people out of the emergency department. Our ambulance off-stretcher time is improving. People are moving through the emergency department faster than they have in the past. But, yes, we are dealing with enormous pressures in these areas, and we must grow our health system to ensure that it can deal with the demands that are going to be placed on it in years to come.
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