Page 1615 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 12 May 2015
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sensible way forward. The discussion then goes to what is the level of health activity, nurse activity, and how do you train up the learning support assistants within the schools, whether it is in a special school or across mainstream schools? That conversation continues because the health minister and I are as one in support of the principles of HAAS and making sure that our students get the healthcare support that they need.
MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Mr Wall.
MR WALL: Minister, why has it taken you so long to resolve the issue of nurses in schools?
MS BURCH: This is a complex arrangement. We are in the middle of a pilot. Those discussions and those activities have played out. At Black Mountain School the families have a heightened level of concern. So we have put those negotiations and processes on hold and we will go back to Health and Education and make sure we get those systems right.
Hospitals—University of Canberra
MS FITZHARRIS: My question is to the Minister for Health. Minister, can you please update the Assembly on planning underway for Canberra’s new public hospital at the University of Canberra?
MR CORBELL: I thank Ms Fitzharris for her question. The University of Canberra public hospital planning is well underway. This will be a new and innovative approach to health care in our city. It will be, for the first time, a facility entirely focused on subacute care. Of course, that shift to subacute care will help relieve pressure in our acute care hospitals, at the Canberra Hospital and also at Calvary Public Hospital. By having a hospital without intense acute care areas such as surgery, an emergency department and ICU, we can focus on the rehabilitation needs and restoration to day-to-day living that are so important, particularly for a growing and ageing population.
Work is well underway. Expressions of interest closed for the head contractor contract in August last year. Three organisations have now been identified, as a result of that, to participate in the next stage of procurement. A request for tender process was released on 9 April this year. It is scheduled to close in June, and that will be followed by an evaluation period for what will be a design, construct and maintain procurement delivery model.
I am pleased to say that we are also working very hard with the University of Canberra and other stakeholders in relation to the resolution of car parking for the facility to support the requirements of the new University of Canberra public hospital. This will be further considered in the context of the forthcoming capital budget.
The service delivery plan for the University of Canberra public hospital was completed in August 2013. This service delivery plan outlines the function and operational requirements of the hospital and includes the functional brief and the
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