Page 468 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 23 February 2010
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With regard to the recommendation on practice nurses, I am aware the government, through its public statements and its initiatives in other areas, is very supportive in encouraging the use of multidisciplinary teams and the walk-in centres which utilise nurse practitioners. However, this is another example where the committee asked the government to resource something that the federal government has jurisdiction over. The report clearly says in paragraph 3.4 that nurses in general practice are being underutilised, and it goes on in the next paragraph to outline what practice nurses could do. There is significant scope to do this. However, it is the federal government that needs to act, and until it is able to do so, it seems self-defeating to obtain funds from the ACT government in addition to the federal funds available for this purpose for general practitioners to continue to underutilise these valuable professionals. Again, that is a recommendation that you cannot necessarily object to, but it does seem to lack an understanding of the federal jurisdiction in this area.
Recommendation 12 is another recommendation where the committee seems unwilling to explore alternatives, although that recommendation was somewhat amended after I spoke to it. I have had direct involvement and experience with the west Belconnen cooperative.
Mr Doszpot: Mary, you accepted all these recommendations. I can’t really understand what you’re talking about.
MR SPEAKER: Mr Doszpot.
MS PORTER: I was on the steering committee. I have had direct experience with a number of these ventures over the time. They are borne out of a group of people getting together who establish a need and work through the hard process. You need a committed group of dedicated individuals who will stick with the concept through the many hurdles and the many disappointments that you have to face if you are going to reach your goal in setting up such an organisation. This is a necessary process to hone ideas, to check out basic assumptions of an idea, to make sure it is on the right track, and to seek advice and information to see where support and resources are available. To shortcut this process can lead to failure. A child does not learn to walk and run if its parents carry it everywhere. It has to be let go so it can master the skill itself. It is the same with setting up an organisation such as the health cooperative.
I am aware the government has a number of transport initiatives, and the community buses provided to regional community services are but one example. I am also aware the home and community care transport service is run by organisations, and, due to my intervention, the report does deal more fully with these services. These services and the taxi vouchers for people with disabilities are unable to meet all the situations that are faced by those with hospital appointments and the difficulties of getting to those appointments. However, as pointed out to my colleagues at the time, there is no one pick-up point in the Belconnen town centre at the moment due to the temporary bus arrangements.
Also, one can imagine patients will have appointments at any given time of day for any given reason, and a comprehensive bus service would have to be provided in order to address this need. I am wondering how people actually justify that, but we
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