Page 3004 - Week 08 - Thursday, 15 August 2019
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With any new network change of this size we would usually expect to see a drop overall in the number of people taking journeys on public transport. In fact, we have seen the opposite.
MS LAWDER: Minister, why has the rapid 5 bus, that is supposed to go from the city to Tuggeranong, been known to cease its service at Woden instead of continuing further south?
MR STEEL: I think Ms Lawder is referring to the rapid 4 service, which used to be known as the blue rapid. I have provided answers to the Assembly in relation to that on notice.
MR PARTON: Minister, will you bring back Xpresso services; or will they be more long black perhaps?
MR STEEL: I thank Mr Parton for his question. The answer is that we are not currently planning on doing that. Some peak buses were provided under the new network, particularly down in Tuggeranong, and those services continue to operate.
Hospitals—University of Canberra
MS CHEYNE: My question is to the Minister for Health. Minister, how has the University of Canberra Hospital performed since its opening one year ago?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Ms Cheyne for the question and for her interest in the University of Canberra Hospital. Since the commencement of outpatient services on 10 July 2018, a number of services were successfully relocated to the University of Canberra Hospital, including rehabilitation, aged and community services, mental health services, in-patient services, rehabilitation medicine clinics and hydrotherapy services. The aged care assessment team, ACAT, was the final service to relocate to UCH, on Monday, 30 July 2018.
On 17 July 2019 I was pleased to attend UCH’s first birthday celebrations where I highlighted some of the key milestones of the preceding 12 months, including more than 2,000 patients seen at UCH; more than 10,000 visits to UCH clinics, including 4,400 in multidisciplinary therapy clinics and 2,475 in hydrotherapy; more than 65,000 in-patient meals served which, according to one of the patients I spoke with during the birthday celebrations, are of great quality; and around 44,000-kilowatt hours of solar energy captured and reused at UCH to reduce energy imported from utility providers since the solar panels were commissioned in December 2018.
We have also achieved significant milestones in respect of our collaboration with the University of Canberra. The first University of Canberra students commenced clinical placements in UCH wards in August 2018, providing students with direct exposure to real-world clinical practices aiming to deliver more skills and more knowledgeable health professionals into the future. The UC faculty of health has a space at UCH where members of the faculty focus on building allied health research capacity across ACT Health.
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