Page 966 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 17 March 2010
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stress can exacerbate the side effects felt by a cancer patient receiving radiotherapy treatment;
This is, again, a sentiment I think we all share—that we should be focused on the patients here and acknowledging the stress and suffering that comes about when these systems break down. Finally, Ms Bresnan’s amendment notes:
the financial burden placed on patients who are required to reside interstate while receiving treatment;
Again, that is a matter of some discussion today. What we actually see is that Ms Bresnan then calls on the health minister to do a number of specific things—paragraphs (2)(a) to (e)—and then report back to the Assembly by 30 June 2010 on the progress that has been made. These are substantive points that Ms Bresnan is seeking to have delivered. The first one is:
investigate if staff at The Canberra Hospital who assist in the frontline provision of cancer services require customer service or reflective practice training;
Again, that is a very concrete, constructive suggestion. The next is to:
reinstitute formal consultation meetings between managerial and consumer representatives;
This is bringing in the people who actually know; the people who are accessing the services; the advocates on behalf of the patients. It is bringing them into a regular process so that we can actually ensure that these problems do not happen again, so that we can be proactive in seeking to ensure they do not happen again and so that we can create an ongoing dialogue, something that is bound to minimise the problems in the future.
Paragraph (2)(c) is to:
direct The Canberra Hospital to plan for staff turnover and aim to ensure a staff person will be replaced before they leave a position;
Again, that is a very specific and concrete suggestion. Next:
investigate if any further financial assistance can be provided to those patients who had to travel interstate to receive radiotherapy treatment;
That is paragraph (2)(d), concrete as you like. Paragraph (2)(e), Mr Hanson, calls on the health minister to:
advise when the staff shortages will be resolved and almost all patients suffering from cancer in the ACT will again be able to be treated locally;
I think we all acknowledge that there are going to be times when people have to go interstate. It is not ideal, but, as I think the health minister has identified in the last
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