Page 1688 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 15 May 2019
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
… look at keeping the Canberra Hospital pool open to transition services until the new pool at Stromlo opens around 2020, noting the Stromlo pool will also be a hydrotherapy pool.
I think everybody deserves an apology.
The minister does not know what hydrotherapy is. Fortunately, as a result of the hard work of the people in the gallery today, Arthritis ACT and people on our side of the chamber, this issue is coming to light. I am glad to say that perhaps when we walk away from today the one thing we will know is that somebody suffering chronic pain who gets in the water at 32 degrees or 31 degrees or with an air conditioner blowing on their shoulders has their muscles seize up, so it has almost the opposite effect of the purpose of being in the water.
People are sick of the weasel words. They do not trust the government to do what they say they are going to do. This same minister last year came in here and agreed that we would have a playground built in Waramanga. Then, when the decision was made and the announcements are made under the new minister, apparently Waramanga was one of the playgrounds that could be applied for. So what the minister says in here and what she actually does can be two completely different things. We will be watching and everybody here will be watching to see if this minister’s words are true. Joan from Curtin says:
Without hydrotherapy, I would be in a wheelchair.
I can’t walk a block without stopping to puff … but I can get in the [hydrotherapy] pool and walk for an hour, no problems.
When asked what would happen if the Canberra Hospital pool closed, Joan said:
I would give myself probably a month, before I have to go onto a walking frame.
Last month when these users met with me they stressed the importance of having nearby and accessible hydrotherapy. They have been absolutely stressed and distressed by the government’s actions on this service. Minh told me that before hydrotherapy she was suffering chronic pain. Aurelio, now that he is undertaking hydrotherapy, is healthier and does not need to take as many prescriptions.
The pool at the John James hospital is not maintained at a consistent temperature. As the minister noted in her speech, that could be addressed. It must be addressed, and properly, because it is not acceptable for hydrotherapy services not to be offered at the appropriate temperature, as I have mentioned before.
In a monumental stuff-up that probably reminds some of us here of what happened with the Gungahlin Drive extension, the new pool at the UC has been opened with lesser facilities than the old pool has. It is smaller, it is shallower, it has cold air blowing across the top of it, and it has had more issues with maintaining temperature than the old pool has. Does this remind anybody of anything?
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video