Page 3121 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 16 September 2015
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surrounding regions and the increasing pressure placed on the ACT health system. In just 100 years, Canberra has grown into a thriving city of more than 380,000 people and obviously our healthcare needs are changing.
This investment is the most significant in the history of Canberra’s healthcare system. It is about bringing healthcare services closer to where people live. It is about moving key front-line services out of the major health campuses into local facilities. It is about healthcare workers who will provide care at specific points in a patient’s journey and it is about using information technology to support connected and coordinated care.
The health infrastructure program is about creating new pathways through the health system which are better, smarter and more convenient for our community. In essence, it is about providing the right services for the right people at the right places. This Labor government is investing close to $1 billion to make sure every aspect of our healthcare system can support us as we continue to grow.
As of today, many comprehensive and significant projects have been completed, many of which are in Ginninderra. I know Ms Fitzharris and the minister have listed some of these and talked about them before. However, I think they are worth repeating. They are the Belconnen Community Health Centre, the Belconnen walk-in centre, the new operating theatres at the Calvary hospital, and soon we will see commencement of construction of the new University of Canberra public hospital, or the UCPH.
Madam Assistant Speaker, as you know, on 8 November 2013 the Belconnen Community Health Centre opened its doors to the public. It is now a key part of the ACT health system, offering services aimed at helping people to manage acute and chronic conditions in the community closer to home. In this way the centre supports the quality of life and wellbeing of people in Ginninderra and in the region and helps to reduce reliance on hospitals.
The centre contains state-of-the art clinical facilities with modern equipment and an open plan design. It is now home to a range of health services aimed at supporting a diverse and growing local community, including those aimed at assisting patients to manage acute and chronic conditions in the community, particularly in the areas of diabetes, mental health and rehabilitation, as well as renal services. The minister spoke before about Tuggeranong and Ms Fitzharris has mentioned it as well.
The Belconnen walk-in centre, which was opened on 1 July 2014—as well as the second one in Tuggeranong—is a great example of this investment. The walk-in centres provide an alternative, giving fast access to health advice and one-off treatments for minor illnesses and injuries. This is an innovative approach to health care, employing the expertise of experienced nurses combined with best practice principles to provide high level care to those people who visit the centre.
While the centre does not provide all the services provided by GPs, such as ongoing treatment and treatment for complex conditions, the staff are able to provide advice on and treat common illnesses and minor injuries at no cost to healthcare consumers. The highest numbers of general presentations for the centres since opening include the
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