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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 10 Hansard (3 September) . . Page.. 2962 ..

Mr De Domenico: Incorporate that in Hansard.

MR BERRY: I seek leave to incorporate that in Hansard.

Leave granted.

Document incorporated at Appendix 2.

MRS CARNELL (Chief Minister and Minister for Health and Community Care): I seek leave of the Assembly to make a ministerial statement on the Canberra Hospital Emergency Department.

Leave granted.

Ms McRae: Can you not just table it?

MRS CARNELL: No, I cannot, because it is actually really important.

Ms McRae: Go on with you!

MRS CARNELL: No; it is very important.

MR SPEAKER: Order! Proceed, Chief Minister.

MRS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, I am pleased to report on the outstanding performance of the Emergency Department of the Canberra Hospital over the last year. Fundamental to the successful performance of the public hospital system is its ability to deal with emergencies. While much public focus is on waiting times for elective surgery, the real bread and butter for public hospital care is timely access to emergency treatment. In this area the Canberra Hospital Emergency Department can boast a real success story. More than 48,000 patients presented to the Emergency Department at the Canberra Hospital during the 1995-96 financial year. This represents an increase of more than 12 per cent in occasions of service compared to the previous financial year, 1994-95. An example of this is September 1995, which saw a substantial rise in occasions of service in the department, by 16.5 per cent, compared to the same month in 1994.

The Emergency Department now has a full complement of staff specialists, working as a team, and this enables the efficient functioning and training of all medical staff within the department. There are three full-time fully-qualified emergency physicians, who hold fellowship of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine, which is the recognised postgraduate specialist qualification. In addition, there is a dedicated full-time paediatrician, who holds a fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians

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