Page 1534 - Week 05 - Thursday, 1 June 2023
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With respect to staff at the Calvary-run Clare Holland House who provide inpatient and palliative end-of-life care, their future is also up in the air, particularly in the light of the fact that Calvary will not provide voluntary assisted dying. According to the Canberra Health Services website:
The ACT Government has invited Calvary to discuss its preference for the ongoing operation of this facility, its employees and operations. In order to provide you in the community certainty, the ACT Government looks forward to discussing these matters with Calvary as soon as possible.
It is not very reassuring. Compounding this uncertainty is the fact that the community-based palliative care services currently operated by Calvary will now be taken over by Canberra Health Services. Nurses are particularly distressed about palliative care services at Clare Holland House being left isolated as a result of the Calvary takeover, believing issues with coordination will have significant and ongoing impacts on the quality of the continuity of palliative care.
In conclusion, what my motion is asking for, and what I believe the government needs to do, is to guarantee that all clinical services will be maintained, to outline the contingency plans to maintain adequate staffing and clinical services, release any draft organisational structures showing the proposed intersection between CHS and Calvary management, rule out the use of police force in any part of this transition, and ensure that palliative care at Clare Holland House and its interface with Calvary will not be impacted.
On the staffing levels, for weeks now the minister has been apparently calling on Calvary staff to come on board and make the transition. And she is right—there are only 120. I am shocked, upset and worried by that figure. Of 1,800, only 120—for weeks now, they have been called on—have made that leap.
On top of this, it seems the minister was unable to give us any assurance of what happens if a large number do not come across. What if this is what the future is for us? What will happen to services here in Canberra? She has to be able to assure Canberrans, and she has been unable to assure me today, that services will not be impacted. It is troubling.
I note that the amendment to my motion from the minister is a complete rewrite. It says, “We’ll continue discussions, allow Calvary Health Care—it’s all good.” It is a disappointment, again, that the minister is not listening to people. The way this takeover has occurred is the problem, and that is what is distressing to people. The government cannot be trusted. We do not know the figures. We do not see the transition plan. They have rewritten my motion because they believe they have it in hand. But the Canberra community do not have that faith. They are concerned, and rightfully so.
The way that this Labor-Greens government have gone about this is a disgrace. That is why we wanted that assurance, and the minister has been unable to give it to me today. We will not be supporting the amendment that has been circulated today. That is all I have to say in closing.
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