Page 759 - Week 02 - Thursday, 25 February 2010
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the AMA, the Divisions of General Practice, ASMOF, the ANF, the ACT Health Council and the Health Care Consumers Association. None of them, not one of them, in my four years as Minister for Health has raised concerns about the standards of care or complaints within the TCH obstetric service. I have had complaints raised with me about other obstetric services from one or either of those sources, but not one from that list has raised concerns with me.
MR SPEAKER: Mrs Dunne, a supplementary question?
MRS DUNNE: Minister, what areas of the 10-year war were not addressed by the own initiative review of the Health Complaints Commissioner, and did you take any action or did the government take any action to ensure that the gaps in the review were addressed?
MS GALLAGHER: As I have said in answer to a number of the questions that have been asked of me today, I do not believe that any review will be able to resolve the tensions that have existed probably dating back to Wayne Berry’s time as minister and certainly during Michael Moore’s term as minister and which have re-emerged now. This is a matter that the doctors themselves have to resolve. There is not a recommendation—
Mr Hanson: So you take no responsibility here? You can do nothing?
MS GALLAGHER: No, that is not what I said. I am taking—
Mr Hanson: You just said the doctors have got to deal with it and you can’t.
Mr Stanhope: Point of order, Mr Speaker, we admire your counting of supplementary questions, but it might be of some benefit to each of us if you started counting interjections and doing something about that as well.
MR SPEAKER: Thank you for the free advice, Mr Stanhope. I think question time has been fairly sedate today.
MS GALLAGHER: I have been trying—
Mr Hargreaves: On the point of order, Mr Speaker, we can fix that, if you like.
MR SPEAKER: I am sure you could, Mr Hargreaves. I think we will continue in the spirit in which question time has been conducted so far.
MS GALLAGHER: I am not walking away from my responsibilities, and I never have. But I am being honest—
Mr Smyth: But you’ve done nothing before this.
Mr Seselja: You can’t fix it.
MS GALLAGHER: I give up, Mr Speaker.
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