Page 782 - Week 02 - Thursday, 25 February 2010
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It is important to acknowledge that in the long term something really does need to be done with regard to GPs. Largely, this has to happen at the federal government level and we need to have the ACT seen as a district that is experiencing a workforce shortage for GPs. This will require action at the federal level, and I would like to see our federal ACT representatives addressing this much more than they do now.
As I have already said, mental health is an area that has been underfunded for far too long. This is not particular to the ACT but exists across Australia. Mental health targets were included in the Labor-Greens agreement; that is, 12 per cent of health funding going to mental health, which reflects the burden of this disease in the community, and 30 per cent of this funding going to the community sector.
I note that Mr Smyth committed the Canberra Liberals to this target at a mental health election forum in 2008, but then he actually attacked the Greens for having this target and made some comments about us wanting to rip nurses out of the health system. But this was a ridiculous statement to make, and he might want to explain to the mental health community sector why he stated he would have this target but then did not actually back it up.
Through the discussion paper that the Greens released last year, we were able to identify a number of service areas that are facing gaps and should be targeted for future funding. The first gap is the availability of non-government mental health services to clients after hours. This is a specific item I would like to see funded in the next budget. A number of people suffering from a mental illness have a strong relationship with their service provider, and if there could be flexible and easy access to them after hours we could avoid the more acute episodes that the CAT team and the PSU are facing. Wherever we can, we should be trying to avoid a crisis, as it causes much distress for people, their family, their friends and their carers when an acute episode occurs.
Funding is also needed to sustain the sector via the development and implementation of a government and non-government mental health sector workforce development strategy and, of course, step-up, step-down facilities are also extremely important in providing that alternative option to hospital for people with mental illness.
With regard to palliative care, I am disappointed, I have to say, that the minister no longer feels it is appropriate for an independent review of palliative care to be conducted. This was a major issue that came out of the consultations on Clare Holland House, and I have to say it is unclear still whether Clare Holland House is off the table when it comes to the Calvary negotiations. I would urge that it does not again become a factor in deciding the future of Calvary hospital. A review of palliative care is still relevant. It is something a number of groups have been calling for for quite some time and this issue, which came out of the consultations, still remains.
Finally, it is important in debates that we have about ACT Health and the health system that we recognise and support the work of the staff on the ground. It is often easy for people to criticise from afar or make comments through the media with little regard for the situation on the ground. Working in the health system with patients is
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