Page 3249 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 21 August 2019
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been undertaken. Of course the government is also undertaking work in relation to new interchanges. New interchanges have been completed in places like Dickson and Gungahlin but we are looking at building a new Woden interchange. The design of that will, I hope, deliver a much safer experience for those who are using public transport. It is currently tucked away at the north-eastern side of the centre. There might be opportunities through the design to improve that location, for example, which is obviously a major centre for people who are transitioning between different modes of transport and for pedestrians throughout Woden town centre using that space.
MR COE: Minister, what security and risk assessments were undertaken by Transport Canberra with regard to closure of the 750 bus stops and also the cancellation of many school services?
MR STEEL: I am happy to come back with some detail in relation to that. We continue to work with school communities in particular around bus arrangements, and we have undertaken around 100 tweaks to the network, some of which have been designed to improve accessibility, particularly around schools. We are certainly taking each of those things in. With a change of this magnitude, with network 19, there are things that we need to continue, now that the network has rolled out, to improve over time. Some of that requires consideration of capital upgrades; some of it requires tweaks to the network itself. We are open to receiving feedback, and I am looking forward to receiving feedback particularly from the Women’s Centre for Health Matters.
Mr Coe: Point of order.
MADAM SPEAKER: Mr Coe.
Mr Coe: Just on relevance, I wonder whether the minister could clarify whether he is taking that on notice.
Mr Steel: I am.
Health—emergency department bypass policy
MRS DUNNE: My question is to the Minister for Health. Minister, in June this year the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine issued a position statement on hospital bypass. The college said that it does not support the use of hospital bypass as a measure to manage access block and overcrowding in emergency departments as, it says, this is a symptom of mismatching hospital inpatient service capacity with increasing patient demand. Minister, with three bypass incidents so far this year at the Canberra Hospital, what are you doing to reduce the likelihood and severity of hospital bypass incidents or are you just happy to go back to sleep when they happen?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Mrs Dunne for the question. I have spoken a number of times in this place about the investment that we are making in the expansion of capacity both in the Canberra Hospital and of course in the Calvary emergency department. I emphasise again that Canberra Hospital has processes in
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