Page 1630 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 9 May 2018
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Time and again it has been discovered through accountability mechanisms such as questions on notice, freedom of information and other processes used by the opposition and the media in this town that the minister for health has been misrepresenting the serious problems in our health system. That is why this motion calls on the minister to produce documents and present the Assembly with updates on several issues. Minister Fitzharris needs to produce the documents named in this motion so that the community and this Assembly can be assured that she is now telling the truth about much of the situation.
I start with the serious problems at the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children. The Canberra Times reported on 26 April 2018 that midwives had sent a letter to the minister. The report in the Canberra Times quotes the midwives as saying that staff at the Centenary hospital need appropriate resources and support to provide adequate and safe care to women, babies and families across the board. The report quotes from the letter:
“All areas are severely lacking, and bullying is ever-present. The issues raised impact on the care of patients on a daily basis.
“It is demoralising for staff who care so much about the job they do, and there are many of us.
“It is frustrating and upsetting to feel so helpless in such a poorly managed and possibly busy work environment, unable to provide the care that we know we should and feeling constantly exhausted physically and emotional. The negative effects on patients and staff are seen daily.
“It is only a matter of time before there is an adverse outcome for a mother, baby or staff member.”
Since then several patients have come forward raising concerns with problems in their time at the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children. The claims by mothers back up the claims made by the staff about a lack of staff and the pressure under which midwives and other staff operate. The problems at the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children are largely caused by a lack of beds. The hospital was built in 2012 with no more beds than the building it replaced. At the time the then minister for health was extolling this as a virtue—that we were getting more circulation space but no more beds.
As the population has grown, as the Chief Minister spoke about yesterday, the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children has been facing difficulties. In the previous term Mr Hanson raised concerns, which were also raised by Ms Miragaya, at the time the head of the midwives and nurses federation in the ACT, about the lack of proper planning. The government is planning to spend $70 million over four years to upgrade the Centenary hospital. However, it should have been planned properly in the beginning. The government appears to be repeating the problems at Calvary hospital with the upgrade only increasing the number of beds by three. I doubt there will be enough beds to meet the growing population in Canberra’s north and to take the pressure off the women’s and children’s hospital.
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