Page 1876 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 7 June 2006
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Mr Smyth: Point out what I said was wrong. Point out where it was wrong.
MS GALLAGHER: Every time I hear Mr Smyth speak on health matters, he is talking the system down, not talking about any of the good outcomes that are occurring. He never talks about the good outcomes that are occurring. He always talks the system down and says that it is in crisis, but it is not.
Going to some of the comments being made about bypass, if you read some of the media releases that come out and listen to some of the comments that are being made over the airwaves you would not be wrong in thinking that the hospital emergency department was closed. I think that the attitude of the shadow health spokesperson is irresponsible, because people in our community listen to him, think the emergency department is closed and will not go there if they have a need to do so. That is not a good outcome.
The reality, as Mr Smyth knows, is that the emergency department is never closed. It is always open to people. People need to know that even when the hospital is on bypass or load sharing—whatever term you want to use; I am not fussed on either of them—they are still able to present themselves to the hospital and be looked after if they need help. We know that there are people who, on listening to comments made about bypass and the hospital being closed and nobody getting in, think that that is correct, but it is not. I want people to know that the hospital emergency department is always open and people are always able to go there.
The issue around load sharing or bypass, for the sake of this discussion, is that at certain times when the emergency department is busy, and it has been busy over the last month, as Mr Smyth knows, agreement has been reached between the hospitals about how to handle that increased demand; that is, at times non-urgent patients who, for argument’s sake, are coming to Canberra Hospital in an ambulance and who could be seen quicker at Calvary Hospital are sent there to be examined rather than waiting and not being able to be seen at the Canberra Hospital.
That is simply a responsible way of managing demand. It is not about closing the emergency department. It is not about people with urgent conditions not being seen. That is not what it is about. I think we need to be truthful about that. It is a way of managing demand. Advice to me is that that is the most responsible clinical way of handling demand, and it is a reality of the system here. It is not a performance indicator. It is not used as a performance indicator in any measure of a hospital’s performance.
Mr Speaker, we are working on dealing with demand and timeliness as to people being seen in the emergency department. Mr Smyth mentioned the access improvement program which was established in June last year to facilitate the redesign of health care delivery processes and work practices. This idea is at the coalface: it is asking clinicians and other staff and patients about better ways to ensure that the patient’s journey and experience through the health care system is a positive and efficient one.
The program is a cross-territory initiative involving both Canberra and Calvary hospitals, as well as the aged care and rehabilitation stream, community health services and mental health services. The solutions already identifiable include a redesign of the triage to ensure safe and timely assessment of all patients presenting to the emergency
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