Page 1531 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 8 May 2018
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
figures obtained by the media show that performance on all indicators has worsened in the time that Minister Fitzharris has been responsible as the minister for health.
If those figures are not bad enough, the Canberra Times revealed that the health scandal extends to hidden waiting lists, with people waiting significantly longer than the national average to be seen. The minister, on behalf of the Labor-Greens government, has deceived Canberrans by not explaining the full extent of the problem within ACT Health.
This is a government that is letting down doctors, nurses, midwives, patients and all the staff within the Health Directorate. There are serious questions surrounding how many other datasets have been manipulated or hidden to avoid showing the full extent of problems within Minister Fitzharris’s portfolio.
When patients finally do receive care, they are treated in facilities that can place them at extreme risk. Just last year it was revealed that there were 147 extreme and high risks identified in the Canberra Hospital infrastructure, including the main switchboard, where a fire broke out.
The recent assessment of the Canberra Hospital by the Council on Healthcare Standards is in contrast to what the minister has been telling the public. Not only has she been misleading the Assembly, but in doing so she has been misleading Canberrans. The survey highlighted many policy gaps, a fragmented system and a lack of direction, creating a high risk for the organisation. All of this is after 17 years of Labor. It is usual, after two or three years of a new government, to blame the previous lot, but after 17 years who have they got to blame other than themselves?
This comes on top of allegations that staff were coached for the accreditation, and that efforts were made to hide and manipulate conditions to pass the audit. This is scandalous stuff. Everyone in Canberra is being let down by this government.
In addition to this, staff are being put in ethically compromising situations to cover up the minister’s inadequacies. If staff did speak out, who could they turn to? Senior nurses and midwives at the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children wrote a letter to the minister saying that mothers’ and babies’ lives are being put at risk by chronic overcrowding within the maternity unit. How did the minister respond? Instead of addressing the issue head-on, she simply encouraged women to have their babies at Calvary hospital, refusing to address the core problem. The minister’s solution is simply to redirect traffic, rather than making a commitment to improve services. But quite frankly, even if she did make a commitment to improve services, I do not think her commitment means much.
The motion moved by Mrs Dunne seeks to note a dozen items. Which one of those is false? Which one of those is not real? Which one of those is not the truth? Each of those is a scandal in isolation, let alone as a collective. As a collective, they show that there is a systemic problem in ACT Health and there are serious problems with the leadership of ACT Health. That, of course, goes to the competence and commitment of Minister Fitzharris.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video