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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 1 Hansard (17 February) . . Page.. 272 ..
MS CARNELL (continuing):
Mr Speaker, the issues that are involved in the private/public patient mix at Canberra Hospital are very real but, contrary to what Mr Stanhope implied, they are not new. I am confident that if I went to Hansard I could find any number of times when Mr Berry, quite a lot of years ago now, as Health Minister was addressing the same issue. It is true that since - - -
Mr Berry: In a far better way. It got results.
MS CARNELL: Mr Berry had four health blow-outs in four years. Mr Berry was consistent. He managed to blow out his budget every single year. With regard to referral of patients, the decision on whether they seek treatment at Canberra Hospital or at John James or National Capital is up to them. It is that simple. It is certainly true that in some cases patients are alerted to their options, but at the end of the day it is their decision. If they choose to have treatment at Canberra Hospital, then that is where they will have treatment. If a private patient chooses to have treatment at National Capital, John James or Calvary Private because they may be able to get in quicker or use their doctor of choice, then they can do that as well. One of the things we do not do in our public hospital system is give private patients any priority or any benefits over public patients. Sometimes private patients choose to use their private health insurance and to go into the private system.
As many who have been involved in health for a long time understand, what private patients pay in our public hospital system has been an ongoing issue. Mr Moore has done some very good work in getting - I am not sure if it has started yet; it may have - a single billing approach in our public hospital system. Private patients will be able to be confident of exactly what they have to pay. There will be a single bill rather than in a huge number of bills, which, as members would be aware, has been a problem in the past.
A lot of work has been done to overcome the issue of private patients in a public hospital, but again it is not new. It has been happening every year. I think the reason it is worse in the ACT is that we have a better educated community. They know what their choices are and they know that private patients can use our public hospital system without declaring their private insurance. The fact they know that is not something that we in this place should be critical of. They are making decisions for themselves - in some circumstances, quite rational decisions.
MR WOOD: My question is to the Minister for Health and Community Care. It is prompted by a distressing court report of a man convicted of molesting a nursing home resident. The questions the community is asking are: How could this happen and what checks were carried out? The nursing home may not come directly under the province of the ACT Government, though the safety of its citizens does. My questions to the Minister concern the wellbeing of people in the large number of places operated or funded by the ACT Government and the possibility that this man has been employed in some of those places. First, is it known whether this person has worked in places managed or funded by the ACT Government? Second, what checks are carried out on
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