Page 634 - Week 02 - Thursday, 20 February 2020
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
One constituent of mine once said that “most of this valuable work probably can’t be measured by statistics”, and that is partly true. But the statistics do paint a picture of just how popular and successful our walk-in centres are. According to the ACT Public Health Services Quarterly Performance Report for July to September 2019, which provides the most recent health services data, there were almost 17½ thousand presentations to the then three established walk-in centres at Belconnen, Gungahlin and Tuggeranong. That is a 3.4 per cent jump in presentations compared to the previous quarter. The median wait time for treatment during this period was just 20 minutes—six minutes faster than in the previous quarter. In Belconnen, where there were more than 6,000 presentations, the median wait time was just 16 minutes.
Since the beginning of this year—this year alone—there have been almost 11,000 presentations to walk-in centres across Canberra. This includes more than 3,000 presentations at the new Weston Creek walk-in centre since it opened late last year. I am sure many Canberrans are looking forward to the establishment of our city’s fifth walk-in centre, in Dickson, which is due to open later this year.
Interestingly, the top five presentations at our existing walk-in centres are in relation to the common cold, wound dressings, musculoskeletal conditions, sore throats and ear conditions.
I want to finish by drawing attention to perhaps some of the lesser known services offered at Canberra’s walk-in centres: the removal of stitches and other things, tetanus injections, blood glucose tests and, importantly, emergency contraception.
Our nurse-led walk-in centres are an incredible service. They provide Canberrans of all ages with efficient, quality care and treatment, 365 days of the year and for a very reasonable range of hours, from early in the morning until 10 at night. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who make the centres what they are, and whose knowledge, professionalism and empathy are what make these centres shine.
MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (3.23): I have to say that staff in my office were utterly overjoyed this morning when they saw the topic of this matter of public importance. They said to me that they thought Ms Cheyne was leading with her chin, considering the stories that were running today about the lack of immediate services provided in the healthcare system. I think Ms Cheyne needs to be a little circumspect about “immediate”. Currently, on the Health app, the waiting times at the walk-in centres are 25 minutes, an hour and 20 minutes, an hour and 12 minutes and 57 minutes.
Ms Cheyne: 12 minutes?
MRS DUNNE: No, an hour and 12 minutes. It is important to put this in context. This is not an immediate service. Although there is a long list of things that can be done through the walk-in centres, there are many things that cannot and will not be done. Although there are people who have good experiences at the walk-in centres, I do come across many people—including me—who have attended walk-in centres and could not be treated for things that are on the list here, for a variety of reasons.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video