Page 4798 - Week 15 - Thursday, 8 December 1994
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Several other issues arose during the course of the investigation. They are not directly related to the terms of reference. They include:
. Patient confidentiality and family privacy. Mrs A's family made no complaint about the health services she received. However, they were very distressed about unwelcome publicity and attention from television journalists following her death. Her name was used without the permission of her family when the incident was publicised.
Thank you, Mrs Carnell, for your grubby politicking and your trivialising and personalising of an issue like this. He continues:
. Staff support. Accident and Emergency Departments have received a great deal of publicity and criticism in recent times. This has led to personal criticism and abuse of staff while they are at work. Staff believe that much of this criticism is misplaced.
Mr De Domenico: Tell us what your office said, Minister.
MADAM SPEAKER: Order, Mr De Domenico!
Mr De Domenico: He needs to tell the whole truth, Madam Speaker.
MADAM SPEAKER: Order! Mr De Domenico, you know better than that. Let us have some order.
MR CONNOLLY: It is all one would expect from this lot, Madam Speaker. This report continues:
They are looking to managers to listen to and respond to their concerns and to set the record straight if their service is unreasonably criticised.
Again, thank you, Mrs Carnell, for the way you constantly beat up and sensationalise your grubby little attacks on the staff of the ACT hospital system. Madam Speaker, I would hope that we never again have to go through a process like this where individual clinical incidents are beaten up by the Opposition Leader in order to achieve some short-term political gain. I was staggered yesterday when I saw in the paper that Mrs Carnell was attacking me for "playing politics with medicine". If there was ever a case of playing politics with medicine, it was the way Mrs Carnell acted over a few days in relation to this matter. I think it is shameful that the Health Complaints Commissioner has had to make the point that the woman's family have made no complaint about health services but that they were quite distressed by the way that this issue became a media circus. This issue became a media circus because of the way that it was being driven by Mrs Carnell. You should be ashamed of yourself.
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