Page 4814 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 11 November 2009
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
used the word “cover-up” to describe the way that the episode has been handled and, quite rightly, they want answers.
The case that has received the most prominence in the media is that of Dr Jeannie Ellis, a GP from Queanbeyan and a first-time mum. She is happy for me to recount her case in the Assembly and, as a GP, she has a certain authenticity when it comes to her concerns. Although there are others in a similar situation, I will focus on her case to demonstrate what has gone wrong in this case. I will quote from a letter that she sent to the opposition outlining what happened to her:
I delivered my baby on the 27th August at TCH—
the Canberra Hospital—
and was placed in a shared room on the post-natal ward. I had repeatedly requested a single room as I was a private patient. I first shared the room with a woman who was discharged mid-morning on the 28th. Later that evening a patient was brought to the room until she was taken to theatre for a caesarean section. On the night of the 28th August at approximately 10.30pm a woman was brought from the delivery suite to share my room. Her husband accompanied her to the room where I was in bed with my then, 24 hour old, first born baby. The nursing staff had made it very clear to myself and my husband that partners were absolutely not allowed to stay overnight in shared rooms. This is, of course, completely understandable for obvious reasons. At about 11.30pm on the 28th the registered nurse advised this male that he would have to leave as it was against hospital policy to have male partners stay overnight in shared rooms. She explained, as we had been advised, that only in the single rooms on the post-natal ward is this practice permitted. About 30-45 minutes later she returned to advise the male again that he would have to leave the ward and go home as he was not allowed to stay overnight.
He never left as the staff allowed him to stay. I requested to be separated and this request was again declined. I was then forced to spend 12-13 hours with this man, unknown to me, in a small, shared room of the TCH. I had to breastfeed my baby, use the toilet, get dressed and try to sleep in these conditions.
The following morning a midwife visited me to convince me to go home. I was not even 36 hours post-partum and this was my first baby, I needed at least 24 hours more as an inpatient to assist with breastfeeding and recovery from my delivery. At this point I burst into tears pleading the staff to allow me to stay one more night but that I needed a private room as I was not prepared to stay any longer in a shared room with a male that I did not know.
If the situation was such that this male had to stay with his wife, for whatever reason, the Canberra Hospital should have placed them into a private room.
Subsequently, the male in question was found to have TB and, as a result, about 80 people have been assessed as at risk of infection by the Canberra Hospital TB unit. This includes Dr Ellis and her baby.
I have done a fair amount of research on TB. I have looked at the ACT Health fact sheet, the VicHealth and Queensland Health websites and also that of the Lung
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video