Page 2138 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 5 June 2019
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
… approximately 61 per cent of the buildings at Calvary Public Hospital have less than 25% of life remaining.
The SAMP also indicates that an indicative figure of $109 million combined recurrent and capital investment over a five-year period and above current financial investment levels would be needed to keep these assets going. That is to keep them going, not to make them fit for the 21st century.
There are many important health infrastructure assets that need to be upgraded. For example, there is the intensive care unit at the Canberra Hospital. A senior planner at the Canberra Hospital warned last year that the ICU would be facing capacity problems in October 2019. That is four months from now. The government acknowledged this problem and announced that it had a medium-term plan to address the capacity issues. I do not know what medium term means when we have been warned that by October this year, in four months time, we will be at capacity.
The federal budget announced by the coalition in April provided funding for an upgrade of the ICU. This will provide, essentially, interim funding before the SPIRE project comes online. A planning document received by the opposition states that the current ICU does not meet current Australian standards. It also states that the coronary care unit and the cardiac catheter suites also do not meet Australian standards.
The director-general of Health proposed in May of last year developing a territory-wide master plan to develop an infrastructure investment strategy for the future, a very sound plan. I hope that it has been done and I hope that the minister can enlighten us about the status of that plan and the money that would be attached to it.
The building services health program investment level is predicted to be in the order of $900 million. This level of funding is well short of what is required when you add together the issues that have been pointed out in relation to intensive care, the coronary care unit, the catheter suites and the ageing infrastructure at Calvary, just to name the ones that the Canberra Liberals are aware of.
SPIRE is forecast to cost $500 million plus, but we do not know what that will be because that figure has not been announced in the budget. It is headed “Not for publication” in the budget papers. The government is not prepared to tell us exactly how much SPIRE will cost. However, with the expanded scope, along with the extended time line, and the minister’s capacity for prevarication, delays and cost overruns, we can expect this project to cost more than the $500 million set aside so far. The Barr Labor-Greens government should tell us what the new budget for the SPIRE project is so that the community can fully understand and keep this minister and this government accountable for its expenditure. The community cannot trust Minister Fitzharris to deliver this infrastructure without the openness that this motion is calling for.
The Canberra Liberals have seen several briefs sent to the minister for health referring to a “Bruce general hospital” or a “north side hospital” and various other terms.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video