Page 5912 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 8 December 2010

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That order of the day No. 2, Private Members’ business, relating to the Gaming Machine (Problem Gambling Assistance) Amendment Bill 2010, be postponed until a later hour this day

This adjournment is to allow time for the minister to be here for the conduct of that debate.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Canberra Hospital—obstetrics unit

MR HANSON (Molonglo) (11.27): I move:

That this Assembly:

(1) notes that:

(a) in February 2010 current and former staff of the Women and Children’s Obstetrics and Gynaecology Unit at The Canberra Hospital (TCH) made serious complaints regarding the workplace culture of the unit;

(b) nine doctors resigned from the unit prior to February 2010 and another doctor has since resigned;

(c) the Minister and ACT Health officials initially denied that any complaints had been made;

(d) the Minister for Health then dismissed the complaints as “doctor politics” and “mud slinging”;

(e) the Minister claimed that there had been a “ten year war in obstetrics”;

(f) the Minister made threats to review 10 years of Medical Board outcomes in an attempt to intimidate doctors who had made complaints;

(g) the Canberra Liberals called for an open public inquiry into these complaints;

(h) the Review of Service Delivery and Clinical Outcomes at Public Maternity Units in the ACT stated “The review panel identified an apparent systematic and long-standing reticence by management to address disruptive or inappropriate behaviour by certain medical staff”;

(i) the Minister deliberately chose to establish the inquiry into bullying and harassment claims in such a way that they could be covered up;

(j) the Minister for Health is avoiding any responsibility for the findings of the report by shifting the burden of decision making to public servants; and

(k) the Minister for Health has failed to provide outcomes for the staff members involved and further eroded confidence in TCH; and

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