Page 1682 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 15 May 2019
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Of course, accessibility and the safety of pool users, rehabilitation patients and members of our community is our number one priority. I have had discussions with Arthritis ACT about the nature of the current Canberra Hospital pool, and I will outline some of those shortly. In discussions the agreed priority was that, given the aged condition of the Canberra Hospital pool, the last thing we wanted was to let down at short notice the current users of the pool because of the need to close it for maintenance. I will highlight some of the maintenance issues at the Canberra Hospital pool shortly.
We agreed that we would focus effort on ensuring access to other sessions of hydrotherapy and warm-water exercise at other locations, particularly on the south side or at other accessible locations, for example, in the inner north of Canberra. That work has been underway. I have asked ACT Health to engage an independent expert group to undertake some work. I understand that work has been commissioned through the Nous Group and that they are meeting with Arthritis ACT this morning. I will give some more detail on that work shortly.
The decision to close the pool in the short to medium term was based on a number of reasons, principally because it is an ageing asset and coming to the end of its useful life. I will give some insight into that because users of the pool may not see what lies beneath that causes me some concern as minister for the occupational health and safety of staff members and contractors who maintain the pool in addition to the principles underpinning what services are provided on the Canberra Hospital campus.
The Canberra Hospital hydrotherapy pool was opened in 1973 and is currently maintained to facilitate use of the pool by Arthritis ACT for 17½ hours per week according to their latest report to us. Arthritis ACT’s website indicates that eight hours is for hydrotherapy sessions and up to 10 hours for warm-water exercise sessions.
Maintaining the pool involves daily water quality checks as well as monthly HVAC system checks. The plant and equipment supporting the pool are located underneath the pool in a very confined space that has one egress and exit point. This presents—I have visited the site and viewed this myself—very difficult and suboptimal maintenance and access issues. Contemporary pool plant design would not have such a facility underneath the pool, and the current situation certainly does not meet any modern-day access standards for new pools.
The daily checking involves working with chlorine which, as members know, is potentially highly toxic. It is a very confined space with very difficult access that requires maintenance staff to wear a harness to get in underneath. The infrastructure supporting the pool is at the end of its life without spare parts backup in the event of a failure of aged equipment.
I am uncomfortable at extending the life of the pool beyond what is practicable and reasonable. It would bear risks to both the users of the pool as well as to staff. This is something that I have borne in mind as I have received advice from Canberra Health Services as well as a number of representations from the community.
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