Page 2121 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 5 June 2019
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
MR MILLIGAN: Minister, how many other missing cremated remains do you know of?
MR STEEL: I am not going to pre-empt the report being released tomorrow. That will certainly be outlined in the detailed report that the regulator will make.
Hospitals—waiting times
MS LAWDER: My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Canberra has Australia’s most expensive hospitals but also Australia’s worst hospital waiting times and the worst scores for quick treatment of urgent patients. It was reported last week that Canberra mothers leave hospital quicker than those in any other jurisdiction. Minister, why do Canberrans pay so much more for their hospitals and receive poor performance in return?
MS FITZHARRIS: I reject that they do.
MS LAWDER: Minister, when will performance improve so that we have better waiting times, have better scores for quick treatment of urgent patients and address the concerns of mothers leaving hospital more quickly than those in any other jurisdiction?
MS FITZHARRIS: Our staff right across our public health system work extremely hard. I note that all we ever hear from the opposition is relentless criticism. There is significant work underway in terms of investment right across our public health system, whether in supporting staff for a variety of significantly funded new initiatives; investing in increasing, expanding and upgrading our infrastructure; investing in new nurses, new doctors and new allied health staff; or investing in medical and health research.
On the opposition’s reference to the length of stay of women birthing in our public hospitals, there are a variety of views around that particular issue. It certainly is the case that some women seek to return home as quickly as possible. A number of women who have low-risk births seek to return home as soon as possible. There is a lot more in that story than the opposition have asserted.
We particularly look forward to, in the very near future, publicly releasing the final outcome from our extensive consultations on our new approach to delivering maternity services, which was funded in yesterday’s budget. There is a lot of excitement and optimism around this particular service. It is the first time a territory-wide maternity service will be provided. It provides a significantly improved approach to new mums, in particular, accessing maternity services right across our territory and builds on our significant investments in Centenary hospital as well as the significant investment in expanding Calvary public maternity ward last year.
MRS DUNNE: Minister, what responsibility do you take, as the minister for health, for the 18 years of increasing costs and decreasing services in Canberra’s public hospitals?
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video