Page 4002 - Week 12 - Thursday, 20 October 2005

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .


(d) Calvary Hospital in 2005-06; - Nil

(3) How many beds have been available in the paediatric ward at

(e) The Canberra Hospital

Average number of beds available in each year was:

(ix) 2001-02 64 beds

(x) 2002-03 64 beds

(xi) 2003-04 64 beds

(xii) 2004-05; 64 beds

(f) Calvary Hospital

Calvary does not a dedicated paediatric ward.

Calvary’s emergency department has identified 3 beds in the Clinical Decision Unit (CDU) for use of paediatric patients however these are not used exclusively for paediatric patients.

Day surgery beds only are used for paediatric ENT / ophthalmology patients, who meet strict admission criteria.

(4) How many beds are currently available at the paediatric ward at

(a) The Canberra Hospital in 2005-06;

TCH has 48 paediatric beds available.

With the refurbishment of the Paediatric Area at TCH the previous physical space that would have allowed for there to be 64 beds (spaces) available, has been reduced to 48.

This latter number is still above the number of beds used at any one time.

Whilst capacity prior to the developments was 64 beds there was only an average of 32 in-patients, with a bed occupancy of 49.6%.

The projected bed occupancy for 48 beds is an average of 71% over the year with an average of 87.5% over the winter months.

The staff including paediatricians agreed to a bed number of 48 post refurbishment.

(b) Calvary Hospital in 2005-06

Calvary Hospital does not have a children’s ward. Children are being seen in the Emergency Department and if there is a need for admission, they are transferred to The Canberra Hospital.

(5) Does the ACT health system have enough adequately trained staff who are specifically trained in the needs of children and young people?

The ACT health system has enough trained staff for the numbers of children and young people requiring health care in the ACT.

The ACT Health system has a well-qualified work force with a high degree of expertise. At TCH, there are nine paediatricians (four staff specialists and 5 VMOs), three paediatric surgeons (one staff specialist and 2 VMOs) and one paediatric emergency physician.


Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .