Page 2670 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 29 June 2010
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Ross Solly asked some more questions. Dr Hughes said:
It’s more bullying by the administration.
So what we have, instead of a Minister for Health who shows leadership, who wants to put in reform, is a minister responsible for bullying in so many departments in her hospital. We know about the 10-year war in obstetrics. We know about the claims of bullying in other departments. Now we have got bullying over the elective surgery lists being raised by others about this minister. In one isolated case you might say, “That is just a misinterpretation.” But there are now so many instances of bullying being raised against this department under the leadership of this minister that it cannot be ignored.
When we go back to the motion, it says that we wish to censure the minister for her ongoing mismanagement of the health portfolio. And we see it in so many instances now. This is the minister who knows of a 10-year war in obstetrics, who has had bullying in so many other areas of her department brought to her attention or publicised, and she does nothing about it.
We see the waiting lists continuing to be the worst performing in the country, worse than under Reba Meagher in New South Wales, and now we have this minister misleading the Assembly. She has had the opportunity. If you made the mistake, just come back in here and have the courage to say: “I made the mistake. It was inadvertent. I correct the record.”
But it is quite clear. This minister has a duty to find out. It says so in the ministerial code of conduct. What we have is a denial that she was aware of any cases. Last Tuesday it was “never, ever”. On Wednesday there was the nervous tabling of the letters and saying: “You people should read your policy. It is there on the website. Here are the letters.”
But the letters confirm it. The original letter says—and this is the offer, it is a formal offer, it is a formal offer in the document, “We can make this a ‘staged’ procedure,” for your patient and your date.
If you accept our offer to downgrade—and I will quote it:
If you accept this date, please re-categorise this patient as a ‘2a Staged Procedure’ and return by fax …
And it gives a phone number. Why would you have to do that if these requests were not being made? Not only is it being made, the minister came in and tabled the document that said: “This is how we do it. We make you an offer you can’t refuse. You’re not going to get this surgery.”
Then we have Dr Ashman saying, “We need to confirm this policy.” This is the policy, here it is, here is a draft policy now in writing confirming all that they do, all that this minister denies, all that this minister misleads this Assembly over in this place, in that they refuse requests to downgrade the category. The minister should be censured.
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