Page 169 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 12 February 2020
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debate the subject, under standing order 118(b). Would you ask the minister to be directly relevant and not debate the issue.
MADAM SPEAKER: I do not think she is debating an issue. A statement of fact may stand. But she is relevant to the question.
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: In relation to the current performance of the ACT’s emergency departments, I absolutely accept that the timeliness we are seeing is not where we want to be, not where Canberrans expect us to be. That is why we have significantly invested in the expansion of Calvary’s emergency department with 50 per cent more emergency department treatment spaces at Calvary; 20 per cent more treatment spaces for emergency departments across the territory; an additional two senior staff specialists for Canberra Hospital’s emergency department; 12 additional medical beds at Canberra Hospital to reduce the bed block that can add to ED wait times; the hospital in the home program; the geriatric rapid acute care evaluation program, or GRACE, that Calvary hospital has established, which is now being rolled out to all residential aged care facilities, which aims to treat people closer to home: frail older people who are putting significant—(Time expired)
MR PARTON: Minister, why is it that our performance in timeliness of emergency care is not only the worst in the nation but the worst in the nation by a very clear margin?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I know that when Mrs Dunne was talking about this on radio the other day she did make the point that it is not appropriate to compare our emergency department performance for the ACT with the whole of New South Wales, for example. She was actually quite clear about that. But I accept the point that in relation to peer hospitals, we are not performing where we should be. There is a lot of work going on at Canberra Health Services, Canberra Hospital and at Calvary Public Hospital Bruce, particularly at Canberra Hospital, in relation to the timely care strategy.
The leadership at Canberra Hospital have spent the past 12 months making sure that they respond in a really meaningful way to the culture review, making sure that they create an environment of trust among staff, and they are now very focused on ensuring that staff are able to work together to improve the efficiency of the hospital.
Things are being done in terms of the timely care strategy, which I know Mrs Dunne has been briefed on, a multidisciplinary approach to the initial assessment and treatment, ensuring that more patients commence care as soon as possible. It includes earlier physician engagement in the care provided, as well as expanded nurse protocols and approved pathways. That is just starting now or is about to get underway. There is work to streamline the admissions processes, including emergency physicians being able to make faster decisions to admit patients to wards across the hospital, and a sharper focus across all divisions of admission from the emergency department and on discharge, as well as diagnostics and support services. There is a sharper focus on supporting more timely patient flow. We are also exploring an expansion of rapid assessment models of care, including the emergency medical unit.
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