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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 2 Hansard (27 February) . . Page.. 332 ..

Ms McRae: I asked about the surgical booking office.

MRS CARNELL: That is exactly what it is. We are in the business of restructuring. We cannot restructure if we cannot get any support or commitment from some of the people involved. If those opposite believe that the approach we should take is just to go ahead and do it, please say so. I would be happy.

Mr Berry: You will get a long way coming in here and bagging - - -

MR SPEAKER: Order, Mr Berry!

MS McRAE: I asked a very specific question. The question was, and I repeat it as a supplementary - - -

Mr Hird: Could I take a point of order, Mr Speaker?

MS McRAE: No, you may not. I am asking a question.

MR SPEAKER: Order! There is a point of order. Sit down, Ms McRae.

Mr Hird: Mr Speaker, I draw your attention to standing order 61. I was trying to hear the supplementary question. Mr Berry seems to think he is ruling the roost.

MR SPEAKER: Allow Ms McRae to ask her supplementary question. Continue, Ms McRae.

MS McRAE: What I asked, quite specifically, was this: Will you act to ensure that the staffing levels in the surgical booking office are adequate to perform the duties required of them, and will you remove the staffing freeze that you imposed on them?

MRS CARNELL: The answer to that question is categorically no. I will not, because of what Booz Allen identified, and it has actually gone up since then. We have 413 clerical staff at Woden Valley Hospital. We only ever have, on average, about 480 patients. Heavens! There is no way on this planet that I am going to put on extra clerical staff at Woden Valley Hospital.

MR MOORE: Mr Speaker, my question is also to the Chief Minister as Minister for Health. The Chief Minister stated in her reply to Mr Osborne's question that her objective is to treat patients. In discussions that I had this morning with a number of nurses, Chief Minister, the issue was raised of the triple-eight roster proposal put by your Government. Are you willing to be responsible for the situation, as described to me, of a nursing sister being back at work after five hours or less sleep and working, for example, in intensive care with patients' lives in her hands?

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