Page 3515 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 18 August 2010
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attention of the Assembly again. These are, indeed, some of the issues that we were trying to address when we sought to own and operate Calvary Public Hospital. It was to make sure that we could run a standardised service across the two hospitals. That is what we wanted to do when we came out and said that we wanted better networking of the two hospitals—
Mrs Dunne: It was to fix your balance sheet so you could invest.
MS GALLAGHER: There were two reasons. There have always been two reasons. Go back and have a look at them, Mrs Dunne. You may have had something in your ears when we were talking about the first option. It was about improving the operations between the two public hospitals.
Now, I do not necessarily take the view that not having standardised risk processes across the two public hospitals impacts on clinical outcomes. I do not necessarily take that view. However, the review of the review is that we move to establish a territory-wide maternity service and standardise all those processes across the two public hospitals. I have already sought support from the AMA to work with the obstetricians who work across both of those public hospitals about how we might do that, considering that there are differences of opinions between Calvary Public Hospital and the Canberra Hospital. I think we need to work carefully through those issues.
In terms of risk management and the issue that was raised in the review, it was about the fact that if there are adverse events, or potentially adverse events, clinicians at Calvary Public Hospital have to put that data into both Riskman through ACT Health and then they have to fill out another process for Little Company of Mary Health Care. The view expressed in the review is that this does not encourage doctors to report those incidents if we are making it onerous for them to fill it out. But we do need them to fill out the ACT Health one and LCM need them to fill out their one.
MR SPEAKER: Mr Hanson, a supplementary question?
MR HANSON: Minister, are you entirely satisfied with the management of clinical risk within the maternity services at the Canberra Hospital?
MS GALLAGHER: Yes, I am.
Canberra Hospital—visiting medical officers
MR COE: My question is to the Minister for Health. I refer to the recent review of service delivery at public maternity units. It found that one of the three key barriers to medical clinicians working at the Canberra Hospital was a “perceived culture of resistance by the Canberra Hospital to the engagement of VMOs”. Why has this “culture of resistance” developed at the Canberra Hospital to the engagement of VMOs under your leadership?
MS GALLAGHER: There is not a resistance to engaging VMOs at the Canberra Hospital. VMOs make up a very large proportion of the doctors who work very
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