Page 1267 - Week 04 - Thursday, 21 March 2013
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
From the time of admission into the delivery suite on the Friday, to the transfer back to our local Hospital, we were treated with great care, knowledge and understanding by every staff member including doctors, nurses and cleaners.
The birth of our son did not occur how we had planned. Not only did he arrive 8 weeks early, but we were hours from home in a city we did not know. We did not have a support network of family and friends, nor did we have a place to stay. This is where the staff of Canberra Hospital stepped up, making the extra effort in their required duties. We were directed to Ronald McDonald house for accommodation, and even provided with details for local shops and facilities. Throughout the stay we were updated via phone on our son’s progress and allowed access to him on a 24 hour basis.
The parents’ story goes on but in the interests of time I do not have the opportunity to read it all out. But this is the public health system that we in this place should be proud of.
When I went to a local meeting of regional mayors a couple of months ago, it was interesting on a number of fronts but one of the things that struck me was that the mayors, representing their local community, had more compliments for our health system than the combined forces of the opposition here. I do not know even know what these mayors’ political persuasions are, but those regional communities that rely on Canberra Hospital and the health service here to keep their communities safe and healthy have more time for and are more interested in seeing our health service do well than the entire Liberal opposition have ever contributed to this debate. It was so stark that it struck me: why would the mayor looking after Moruya love our hospital so much? And it is because his community rely on it.
I thought it was an especially strong message that was sent from those regional leaders. It is just such a shame that the leadership we get from the Canberra Liberals is that we get speech after speech, stump speech after stump speech, that has been filed away by dutiful staff, looking at how to talk down a health system that does not deserve it. We have the Leader of the Opposition come in here and say it is a system that we can only be disappointed in. Well, shame on you, Mr Hanson.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (3.57): I would like to thank Mr Hanson for raising this issue today. In general, I believe it is important to note that the ACT has a very good health system. Generally, when you talk to anyone who has recently suffered from any really serious medical issues you find that our hospitals really do look after our patients in a very caring and efficient manner. The ACT, fortunately, has a relatively healthy population. Of course, we all know that Canberra is a great place to live and very conducive to a healthy lifestyle. There are not many places in the world where such a large population can easily head out from their offices to run or cycle around the lake in their lunch hour, for example.
Having said this, I certainly hear the comments from Mr Hanson about the long waiting times at our emergency departments if you arrive at the wrong time or on the wrong day. I know that sometimes you can go in and be treated within an hour.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video