Page 1230 - Week 05 - Thursday, 4 June 2020
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We have written many times to the New South Wales government, to both the environment minister and also to Mr Barilaro, who is the key proponent of the brumby legislation in New South Wales, and asked for them to review that legislation.
I have also written to the commonwealth environment minister on a number of occasions outlining our concerns regarding the feral horse encroachment into the ACT and providing to them evidence of damage that the horses have done in Kosciuszko National Park.
Canberra Hospital—air pollution
MRS DUNNE: My question is to the Minister for Health. Minister, on 25 May this year, the media reported on the impact that smoke from the 2019-20 bushfires had on the Canberra Hospital. The story was drawn from internal documents from Canberra Health Services, obtained under freedom of information. Minister, why has the Labor-Greens government allowed the air-conditioning system to become so outdated that its settings were unable to be changed, or areas isolated, to meet special air-conditioning requirements, such as for the MRI and CT scanning machines, the path labs, and the sleep disorder unit?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Mrs Dunne for the question. Obviously, the smoke event that was experienced over this past summer in the ACT was “unprecedented”. This word is now very overused in 2020, but it was indeed an unprecedented event. Our ongoing investment in upgrades at Canberra Hospital, which are an ongoing activity, was not aimed at how we manage for a completely unprecedented smoke event of this nature. Canberra Health Services, as has been detailed by Bernadette McDonald, managed very carefully through that process, stayed in close communication with staff, and consistently briefed staff, with the support of the respiratory team in Canberra Health Services, to ensure that staff really understood the potential impact of that smoke and that all of the impacts were managed, including the potential impacts on the MRI machines.
As I have said previously, I think, it was not only the smoke event but also extreme heat coinciding with that which meant that there was a limit to how much could be done to reduce the use of air conditioning in the hospital, because the air conditioning needed to keep running to address the extreme heat threat as well.
MRS DUNNE: Minister, why was it weeks before it was discovered that sterile stocks had been contaminated by smoke, and then days before infection control emailed units asking them to check their stocks, especially when, as you say, there was ongoing communication across the hospital?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I am assured that there was no threat to patient safety or staff safety as a result of this. The outside packaging of some of the stocks was found to have smoke particles. That was isolated; that stock was not used while it was in that condition. That matter was addressed.
MRS JONES: Minister, how many patients at Canberra Hospital were treated with these partly contaminated stocks?
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