Page 206 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 28 November 2012
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The major concern raised by the nurses was that the government, now seeking reelection, had ignored warnings as far back as 2009 that the number of beds was not sufficient to cope with demand.
Just seven days ago Chief Minister Katy Gallagher said the new facility would be able to service the needs of the Canberra community for a decade once stage two opens next year. Yet this week another $30 million has been pledged to increase the number of beds.
The government refutes the Nursing Federation’s claims that it used the wrong modelling to calculate the required size and scope of the facility, but says it is working on new projections.
If its initial modelling was correct, why then is an additional $30 million required, and why were the extra beds not incorporated into the budget at the outset?
They are good questions. The minister was warned the model was flawed back in 2009 but chose to ignore those warnings. Again from the Canberra Times:
Perhaps more concerning than these is claims from the ANF that for more than two years they have been raising concerns about capacity with the ACT government, but their repeated attempts to access plans and scrutinise them fell on deaf ears.
Nurses know the inside workings of hospitals and where the pressure points are better than anyone; they are the eyes and ears of a hospital. If that valuable knowledge bank has not been properly tapped in the planning of the new facility, as the union claims, then it would appear to be a major oversight by those charged with delivering this important facility.
Ms Gallagher makes great claims in this place that she is the champion of the staff of the hospital and I somehow attack the staff. Let me be very clear that, when it comes to the women and children’s hospital, the staff are not happy with this minister because this minister has ignored them and she has delivered a model that is putting them and the patients that they care so much about, the women who give birth in this town and their young infants, in terrible situations. They are being pushed out of the hospital shortly after giving birth. I assure you, Mr Assistant Speaker, that many of the mothers and many of the staff that I speak to put this right at the feet of Katy Gallagher because she is the person who ignored the advice, who spent three years with her head in the sand saying everything was under control and the new hospital had sufficient beds and then in the lead-up to the election said it was adequate for a decade. All of a sudden there is a backflip, there is an extra $30 million and we need all these reviews.
This does remind me a little bit about the jail. Mr Smyth would certainly recall that. What did they say when the opposition asked questions? I remember, as Mr Corbell said in 2007, it would have capacity for the next 25 years with its current bed configuration. What has happened? It is already full and the ACT taxpayer has had to pay for the retrofitting of that facility to fit bunk beds in. There is money being spent
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