Page 3512 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 18 September 2019
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I am pleased that the minster, in the last sitting, made it clear that they were prepared to work with Icon Cancer Centre and to use their radiation therapy machines to help deal with the backlog and address the issues of timeliness. But there is much more that needs to be done in this space.
To be absolutely fair about this motion, which is very worthy, I fear that we will not see anything from it. We had earlier this year a very worthy motion from Ms Cheyne about a breastmilk bank where there was wide support for the issue but we have seen nothing develop from the government since then. It was done in the context of the run-up to the budget. There was nothing in the budget in relation to a breastmilk bank and nothing has developed so far.
I am concerned that we will adopt this motion today, a very worthy motion, but the government will not follow through on it because the government cannot be trusted to follow through on services which are essential to the Canberra community. Cancer services that have clear pathways, that are streamlined, that are responsive—whether it is in relation to radiotherapy, whether it is in relation to chemotherapy, whether it is related to fertility preservation—need to be streamlined, need to be clear. There needs to be, in a sense, a one-stop shop. What Ms Cheyne has described is, through no ill-will or no particular institutional failing, something which is not a one-stop shop. But I cannot believe that after 18 years in government this tired Labor government is going to start getting its act together and getting the services more streamlined in a way that would better provide services to the people of the ACT.
I commend the motion. I commend Ms Cheyne for this and for the thoughtful way in which it was presented. The Canberra Liberals are happy to support the motion, with the proviso that we have considerable fears that this government just does not have the capacity to do what Ms Cheyne is calling for.
MS STEPHEN-SMITH (Kurrajong—Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Minister for Children, Youth and Families, Minister for Health and Minister for Urban Renewal) (10.54): I thank Ms Cheyne for bringing forward the motion. I will respond very briefly to Mrs Dunne’s comments about radiation therapy waiting times. We know this issue has been discussed many times before.
Mrs Dunne is well aware that 100 per cent of patients requiring emergency radiation therapy receive their treatment within one day. This is in fact the best performance across the country. A hundred patients a day receive treatment at Canberra Hospital. This is being achieved currently on three machines, as opposed to the same number being treated on four machines during the same period last year. In 2018-19, 1,450 patients received radiation treatment, compared to 1,377 patients in 2017-18. Even with the replacement of one of the linear accelerators we still saw more patients treated in 2018-19 than in the year before.
As members would know, Canberra Health Services is currently spending $11 million, of which $6 million comes from the commonwealth—and it is important to acknowledge that—on replacing two linear accelerators, the treatment planning system and updating the physical space to ensure the latest technology and the most
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