Page 205 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 28 November 2012
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
ACT Chief Minister Katy Gallagher has ordered a review into maternity services at Canberra’s new Centenary Hospital, amid concerns women are being pushed out just six hours after giving birth.
The Centenary Hospital for Women and Children has been open for just three months but is already operating at capacity.
The facility brings together women and children’s services under one roof, but it does not include any extra in-patient maternity beds.
The new hospital was built on the model that the majority of women would be discharged within 24 hours of giving birth, but that has not been happening.
Ms Gallagher says she is fielding complaints from both mothers and midwives.
Australian Nursing Federation ACT branch secretary Jenny Miragaya says that the hospital plans should have factored in the increase in birth rates. “I would have thought that the Canberra Hospital, knowing that it had a five per cent increase in births every year for the last five years, would be requiring additional capacity for inpatient beds,” she said. You would certainly think so, wouldn’t you, Mr Assistant Speaker? AMA President Dr Andrew Miller agrees, saying the current model needs reviewing.
It is fair to say that the minister has got this very badly wrong and staff and patients are now paying a very heavy price. Mothers are being pushed out sooner that they should be and staff are under enormous stress. I have had a number of mothers raise their concerns with me and a large number of staff. In fact, it is a shame that Mr Rattenbury is not here because he would confirm that in the lead-up to the election we were both campaigning at Cooleman Court and a very irate midwife approached both of us and spoke at length about the concerns that she and other staff had with what was happening at the Centenary hospital. She spoke about the downgrading of staff morale, the number of staff going on sick leave and stress leave and how upset they were. Mr Rattenbury, if he listened to this, would no doubt confirm that that is the case. I have been advised that at least one obstetrician has resigned and, as I said, many nurses are on sick leave. But who is responsible? No doubt the minister will claim that she is not, because she is the minister responsible for nothing when it comes to the problem in our health system. Let me quote from the Canberra Times, which has an interesting take on this:
Canberra health requires thorough planning. ACT Labor’s announcement yesterday that it will pump an extra $30 million over the next four years into the new Centenary Hospital for Women and Children sounds on the surface like a good idea, but raises serious questions about the long-term planning that has gone into the facility.
A week ago the Sunday Canberra Times aired serious concerns from the ACT branch of the Australian Nursing Federation that sections of the new hospital were already full and unable to meet demand just weeks after stage one opened.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video