Page 1631 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 9 May 2018
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We need the minister for health to table the documents referred to in this motion by close of business so that we can see what has been happening in this area. We also need the Minister for Health and Wellbeing to make a ministerial statement in this place on her plans for maternity services.
I turn now to the serious accreditation problems facing the Canberra Hospital. The two most serious problems relate to patient safety in mental health. We know that the adult mental health unit has been facing serious problems with an average occupancy rate of 105 per cent and high rates of turnover in permanent staff. There have been issues raised in the past about the higher level of locum staff available. The minister has given us assurances that that was going to be a thing of the past, and we need to look closely at that. These problems have put the lives of vulnerable people at risk and they threaten the work environment of hardworking mental health staff in an area which is one of the most difficult in health.
The Minister for Mental Health made a statement yesterday claiming that the government is recruiting more staff and that the office for mental health will finally be opened. I hope these things will start to improve our mental health system, but I will be keeping a watching brief in this area.
Six of the higher risk areas identified in the accreditation, including risks relating to governance, strategic planning and decision-making, are issues for which the ministers are responsible. Yesterday in the Canberra Times Minister Fitzharris was reported as saying:
I have also acknowledged to staff in recent times the governance of the organisation has let staff down.
Minister Fitzharris is responsible for the governance of the Health Directorate. Not only has she let staff down but she has let down patients and the wider community. Minister Fitzharris said in January that she was responsible for providing clear priorities for staff. The March 2018 accreditation report makes it clear that she is failing in this task. Both the acting head of the directorate and the head of the ACT AMA have said the failure to regain accreditation is not an option. Even a limited reaccreditation would reflect on an ongoing lack of confidence by the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards in the standards at the hospital.
In 2015, as an example, the board of urology of the Australian college of surgeons stripped the Canberra Hospital of its accreditation for two years in the area of urology. The board raised concerns about internal culture and significant disharmony amongst staff. This lack of accreditation for two years has had an ongoing impact on the urology program and we cannot afford to have this repeated across the hospital at large.
My motion today calls on the minister to provide relevant documents on the accreditation process and the progress made in meeting the standards specified by the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards by July this year.
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