Page 629 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 24 February 2010
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not already done so. Again, it is a pretty serious allegation to make, Mr Hanson, that death or serious injury has occurred in the obstetric unit.
Mr Hanson: May have.
MS GALLAGHER: You said, “If it hasn’t already done so.” When I met the doctors on Monday I put down these issues. I said: “In relation to clinical standards at the unit, on all of the data available to me, it is probably the highest performing unit in obstetric care in the territory. On the data available to me, the training program is operating very well. On the data available to me, relationships between midwives and doctors are harmonious, and that information is coming from various sources. In relation to safety for women and babies, the information to me is it is a very safe unit, and that is on benchmarked data from across the country.”
The response from the doctors I met with was: “Well, yes, they’re not really issues. They’re not the issues we’re worried about. We’re worried about the bullying and harassment.” I said: “Well, too late. Those issues have been raised. I was approached by a woman on the weekend who was very distressed. She felt she could not go to the Canberra Hospital to have her baby because she was worried.” I said to the doctors that, by raising these allegations without any evidence, that is the damage that is being done to this unit, and that is my frustration. Indeed, the doctors in that meeting confirmed to me that if anyone went around amongst their patient load it would be quite easy to establish two patients who were unhappy with the level of care they received from each one of them. All of the doctors in that meeting accepted that.
That is why the review needs to occur. It is a validation of the quality of the service because we know from all the data available to us, from a clinical standards point of view, what an excellent service is provided at Canberra Hospital. To have Mr Hanson say that he believes that the lives of mothers and babies could be at risk and that death or serious injury could occur, based on the information available to date, is extremely disappointing. It perpetuates something that nobody else is trying to perpetuate or seeking to perpetuate any longer—nobody. The doctors I spoke to, who have raised the concerns headed by Dr Foote, told me that all of those other issues were not urgent and in their view did not need to be examined. Bullying and harassment did, but they regretted that all of these other issues had even been raised. I do not want to breach anyone’s confidence in this meeting, but that was the content of the meeting.
In terms of sustainability of the workforce, I can tell you that the biggest thing that would deter any doctor from working anywhere across the health system is an inquiry under the Inquiries Act. I can tell you that right now. Yes, we are trying to recruit and we have two very highly skilled doctors who, as I understand it, have agreed to come and join the unit. They are on their way to joining the unit. The politics that Mr Hanson is playing around with for his own convenience, as opposed to dealing with the substantive issues, is the fastest way that we will have people not wanting to work at that unit. Yes, the sustainability of the workforce is important.
In relation to the letters that I have received, Mr Hanson has said that those letters outlined the complaints. They did not outline the complaints; they did not outline concerns. They simply said, “We have concerns around the workplace environment.”
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