Page 6096 - Week 14 - Thursday, 9 December 2010
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MS GALLAGHER: Thank you, Mr Speaker. A lot of the improvements have come from the additional beds that we have put into the system, which were to replace, of course, the 114 beds that the Liberals took out of the system.
Mr Hanson: Seventy-five per cent to 56 per cent.
MS GALLAGHER: We have gone to this before. I have tabled the bed numbers. We have added an additional 200 beds to the system—over 200 beds. The emergency department every day in the last six weeks has averaged presentations in the order of 170-plus at Canberra Hospital. That is nowhere near what was being dealt with in 2000. The demand is increasing all the time. There are no quiet periods in the emergency department.
Mr Hanson: Lack of investment.
MS GALLAGHER: Mr Hanson says it is due to lack of investment. I draw his attention to the 200 additional beds that have gone into the system to deal with the increase in demand.
In relation to complaints that I get about the emergency department, I can say that I respond to each of those complaints. In appropriate cases, I ask for a clinical review, particularly in cases where concerns have been raised around the triage allocation. In cases where triage allocation is questioned, I ask for a full clinical review of that case.
MR SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Mr Hanson?
MR HANSON: Thank you, Mr Speaker. Minister, upon presenting at the emergency department on the second day Mrs Jurello had a letter from her GP stating that she had experienced a major haemorrhage stroke, but she was still categorised as non-urgent. Minister, was this the correct categorisation for this patient?
MS GALLAGHER: I seem to have pre-empted the supplementary question, Mr Speaker. The family concerned have raised concerns about the triage allocation. I have asked for a clinical review of that. We have reviewed our triaging processes in the past, not necessarily based on an individual complaint, because triage is the heart of an emergency department. If concerns are raised around triage allocation, you need to respond to those. The reviews in the past have indicated that the triage system is working very well at the Canberra Hospital and that there was no remedial action required.
In relation to the issue of GPs providing letters, and this issue does come up from time to time with patients, GPs providing letters does not immediately accord you a different triage category. This is again established under the guidelines that all emergency departments—
Mr Hanson: She had a stroke.
MS GALLAGHER: If you do not agree with it—I do not think you are an emergency department specialist—this is the way that all emergency departments
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