Page 1432 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 10 April 2013
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that will be what occurs. I have to say that I think the health system does a very good job, when problems are identified, of reforming, updating and changing policies to make sure it does not happen—
Mr Hanson: Have you apologised?
MS GALLAGHER: I would also say that it is a human-based service, Mr Hanson. It is not unusual in any hospital—
Mr Hanson: It is human to apologise then?
MS GALLAGHER: Indeed. It is not unusual in any hospital in the country or in the world that they will get complaints from patients who feel that the care that they have been provided, either them or a family member, is not up to standard. When that is proven to be the case then it is the responsibility of the health system to change and make sure that the chances of it occurring again are reduced. That is what I expect the Health Directorate to do. The investigation is currently underway. When it reaches the conclusions, I will be briefed on the matter. Any changes, and indeed any apology—I think apologies have already been given in this case—that are appropriate will be implemented.
MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Mrs Jones.
MRS JONES: Minister, are there special support systems in place for parents who have had multiple births or mothers who have had a traumatic experience during and after labour, and is it a failure of these systems in this instance?
MS GALLAGHER: Yes, there are support systems in place. We have just, in fact, changed the model of care for the neonatal intensive care unit and the special care unit. Very much part of the planning that was done around that was looking at how we support parents of multiple births, because, in many cases, multiple births spend some time in the special care parts of the women and children’s hospital. A lot of effort has gone into that, but that is not to say that the system is perfect and that there will not be times when parents complain about the care that they have received or, indeed, as I have had since the Centenary hospital opened, many compliments that are given as well about the standard of care that is provided by the clinical staff in the new environment in the Centenary hospital.
Support services are provided as is appropriate to the patient’s need. In this case, it looks like that fell short of expectations and, where that happens, as I have said, we have to learn from it, apologise and if there are gaps in the way that we manage particularly discharge planning in this case, then we need to fix it and make sure it does not happen again.
ACTEW Corporation Ltd—hospitality
MR SESELJA: My question is to the Chief Minister. Yesterday, you stated in response to a question from Mr Coe that:
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