Page 3337 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 14 November 2007
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spoke of a number of patient rooms, which he reckoned to be about 30, which have been turned into offices. He said he thought that is a bad practice and that what actually happens in our hospitals is, in fact, that all the single rooms—which, from an infection control point of view, we need more of—are the ones usually picked for offices and what we get left with is multi-accommodation for the patients. He said we have to have adequate facilities, adequately trained staff and functionality to make the system work.
The opposition raised the issue of the nurse who was sacked from the Canberra Hospital earlier this year after complaining about the failure to follow infectious disease protocols after an infectious patient was placed in the corner of a public ward. The health minister wanders off from the debate here. She is obviously totally bored; she does not really want to be here. If she is not up to this, she should not be here. That is what I say today.
Dr Collignon said it is very important that sick people in the top triage categories are moved into a bed as soon as they are triaged where they can be monitored properly. He said that you cannot do that in a waiting room. What an extraordinary state of affairs. The government’s response was to say it was all the Liberals’ fault from when we were last in government six years ago. This is pitiful.
Through the constraints of time I am not going to get to say what I would like to fully say today, but I have pretty much covered it. It is absolute hypocrisy by the government of the day to deny the right of the public to know exactly what is going on within our public hospital system. It is hypocrisy to deny us that right—the same right that we gave them when they were in opposition to go ahead with an inquiry into the disability sector. That is no different to what we are calling for today. If this is what majority government offers, then I think Canberrans need to beware.
Finally, the problems in the health system are not for want of spending by this government. We are the third-highest per patient spender in public hospitals in Australia and are significantly above the national average. It is not about money, but management. We know full well that this Chief Minister has said on ABC radio that it is not about beds; it is not about money; it is about systemic issues. I hope he comes down into this place to support this motion, just like he pushed for an inquiry when he was opposition health spokesperson in 2001. Thank you.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (11.43): I am pleased to join with the Minister for Health this morning in arguing that this motion should not be supported. The challenges facing public health in developed countries are chronic and difficult. Whether it is in Australia, the United States or the United Kingdom, the model of health care that we as developed nations have put in place is facing significant challenges and problems.
But at the same time there are two ways of tackling these problems. One is to have deliberate concrete action to invest in and improve resources, training, equipment and people. The other is that which we get from those opposite. Those opposite have no concrete plan to fix and improve the health system. Instead, they propose more bureaucracy, committees, reports and inquiries—an avalanche of paper and no concrete solutions on the ground.
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