Page 4863 - Week 16 - Tuesday, 26 November 1991
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Health Budget - Staff Reductions
MR JENSEN: My question is directed to Mr Berry in his capacity as Minister for Health. I remind the Minister of his answer to a question by Mr Humphries in this Assembly last week. It would appear that there is possibly going to be a delay in finalising the staffing levels within the Department of Health - if there was any information at all in the answer that we got last week. Is the Minister confident that he will be able to achieve the expenditure targets for salaries set for his department by the budget?
MR BERRY: Mr Speaker, the question that has been raised by Mr Jensen relates to discussions which will occur between Board of Health management and staff within the health system. I think Mr Jensen understands that this is, by its very nature, a very sensitive process because it involves unions joining with management to identify and, where possible, agree to savings within the health system. He asks whether I am confident that the Board of Health will meet its budget.
Mr Jensen: Salaries budget, I said.
MR BERRY: Salaries budget. I will talk in terms of its budget. I have to say that, in terms of employees, agreement has been reached between the TLC and ACT Health on a process for addressing the health unions' concerns. In particular, you may be aware, Mr Jensen, that ACT Health has created the position of union liaison officer to work in that process. This officer's role is to assist not only the TLC, but ACT Health as well, by examining proposals relating to changes in staffing profiles and acting as a conduit between the council and ACT Health. The officer also plays a vital role in assisting health unions to reach a common understanding and position by coordinating their responses to proposals for formal consultation.
The Government is committed to ensuring that savings in health are achieved; but it has to be accepted that, to achieve this, the consultative process has to be a sound one and all unions must be involved in the process. So far, that has proved advantageous to both the health unions and the Board of Health management, and I am sure that the outcome in the ACT Board of Health budget will be a satisfactory one. But I want to emphasise that the Government's budget for health is a tight budget, and it will require a great deal of dedication by managers within the health system to deliver that budget.
The Board of Health has said to me that it will live within budget, and I am prepared to accept that the board means what it says. Unlike some other members of this Assembly, I am prepared to let the board get on with managing the health system. I am prepared to make sure that they are given the sort of space that they need to manage the ACT health system, including their budget. I am confident that the board will do their best. They have said that they will, and I expect a good outcome.
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