Page 3514 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 18 August 2010
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MS PORTER: Thank you, Mr Speaker. Minister, can you please provide more insight into what the GP superclinic means for the ACT and how they are viewed by other groups in the community?
MS GALLAGHER: One of the options is that it supports existing general practice, so existing GPs are able to apply for this. I have said, and I think the federal health minister has said, that this alone will not deal with GP shortage. What deals with GP shortage is uncapping the medical school places, which has happened, providing more training opportunities for general practice, providing state-of-the-art facilities for young doctors to do their training in, so they can see that there is life and a career ahead in general practice, and ensuring that they do not have to take out large private loans in order to establish their business.
This is a new way and another way. It complements the existing GP practices and provides an opportunity to collocate—and this is the brave new world—other health services within that clinic. So it is not all about GPs. It is about allied health professionals; it is about nurse practitioners. They have to be part of the solutions as we move forward and deal with the workforce shortage across a whole range of specialities. It is not just about GPs.
We have, after successful lobbying—and I would be interested to see what efforts Mr Hanson has gone to in lobbying the federal government on GP issues; I would almost guess what the answer to that would be: nothing—increased the GP training places in the ACT. We have secured this $15 million. We have put our own initiatives into this to support existing GPs. What have the Liberals done? Nothing.
ACT Health—clinical risk management
MRS DUNNE: My question is to the Minister for Health and I refer to the recent review of service delivery at public maternity units. You stated yesterday in this place in question time: “What has the clinical review found? That there are no concerns around the quality of care at the Canberra Hospital.” However, the review found:
There is no ACT Health policy guiding standardised clinical risk management that covers both public maternity services in the ACT.
Minister, why hasn’t ACT Health developed a policy guiding standardised clinical risk management covering both public maternity services in the ACT?
MS GALLAGHER: Because we do not run Calvary Public Hospital—and it goes to that in the report, Mrs Dunne, if you had read it.
MR SPEAKER: Yes, Mrs Dunne, a supplementary question.
MRS DUNNE: What other areas of ACT Health lack policies regarding standardised clinical risk management?
MS GALLAGHER: There is a range of different clinical specialities that operate across the two public hospitals, Mrs Dunne. Thank you for bringing this to the
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