Page 158 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 10 February 2010
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We will continue to hold them accountable for that. We will continue to push so that we see improved outcomes rather than continuing to go backwards in these areas. It appears from the debate today that we will continue to be the only party in this Assembly that will hold this government to account and we will push for real reforms and real changes that will make a difference to Canberrans.
Question put:
That Mr Seselja’s motion be agreed to.
The Assembly voted—
|
Ayes 6 |
Noes 11 | ||
|
Mr Coe |
Mr Barr |
Ms Hunter | |
|
Mr Doszpot |
Ms Bresnan |
Ms Le Couteur | |
|
Mrs Dunne |
Ms Burch |
Ms Porter | |
|
Mr Hanson |
Mr Corbell |
Mr Rattenbury | |
|
Mr Seselja |
Ms Gallagher |
Mr Stanhope | |
|
Mr Smyth |
Mr Hargreaves | ||
Question so resolved in the negative.
Sitting suspended from 12.22 to 2 pm.
Questions without notice
Hospitals—operating theatres
MR SESELJA: Mr Speaker, my question is to the Minister for Health and relates to the operating theatres which were officially opened by you and the Prime Minister in September last year but which remain closed. Minister, you were reported in the Canberra Times as saying that “the theatres would begin taking patients in October”. Minister, were you aware at the official opening that the theatres would not be ready to be used in October? If so, why did you open them?
MS GALLAGHER: The advice to me when the theatres were opened was that all plans were that they would be able to take patients from October. That was the information that was provided to me and to the commonwealth government.
What happens when you commission operating theatres is that they go through a process of dry runs where fake operations are trialled through the operating theatres as a way of ensuring patients’ safety and testing the infrastructure. These are new operating theatres. It was during that work that there were some problems identified, particularly around the power supply, and some remedial work had to be done in order to make those operating theatres safe.
The answer to the question is this. It was our understanding at the time that they were going to be taking patients from October. In the process of dry runs, which are standard procedures for the opening of new theatres, some problems were identified—
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