Page 2087 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 15 May 2013

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Mr Barr: Are you going to read the org chart, are you?

MR HANSON: I will not be reading the org chart, Mr Barr, but thanks for the advice. I know that you enjoyed that one.

Mr Barr: It was one of your most glorious moments.

MR HANSON: It was, indeed. Many Canberrans would be familiar with the amazing work of volunteers at the Canberra Hospital. There are two highly visible volunteer areas at the hospital. One is the Canberra Hospital Auxiliary. The services provided by the auxiliary include the auxiliary kiosk, the trolley service to the wards, hospital guides and a library service for the patients and staff. The other is the Canberra Hospital Foundation. The fundraising volunteers assist by selling raffle tickets and tickets for events such as the cancer ball. I would like to commend John de la Torre who spent many years as the chair of the Canberra Hospital Foundation.

There are many other quiet achievers who volunteer as well with perhaps a little less recognition. There are, of course, all the people involved in pastoral care and chaplaincy at the hospital. They perform a great role in supporting chaplaincy and pastoral care at TCH, at Calvary hospital and throughout our hospital system.

In aged care and rehabilitation, meal and activity assistant volunteers assist elderly patients to open packaging on meal trays and encourage patients to complete their meals. They also help elderly patients to attend designated activities and physio sessions.

The Canberra community dialysis centre volunteers provide support to assist patients and staff within the Canberra community dialysis centre. Under the community aged care program, volunteers read to clients, write letters, read poetry and play games. The discharge lounge support person provides a welcoming atmosphere for patients and their family members whilst patients are waiting to be formally discharged.

The hand and foot massage volunteers provide a massage service for oncology patients and in the day ward. In the intensive care unit, the intensive care volunteers provide the supporting link between relatives and families for ICU and HDU patients and administering and medical staff. PatCH volunteers—they are actually quite well known—provide caring, efficient services that enhance the activities of the professional staff in the paediatric ward.

Volunteers in the speech pathology aphasia talkback program provide a service to speech pathology patients who have registered for a 10-week talkback group. The volunteers in the veterans’ lounge provide support to veterans and their families during hospital treatment. And the Women and Children’s Hospital way finding volunteers guide and orientate visitors, staff and patients to the Women and Children’s Hospital from other areas of the hospital.

There are so many people that I would like to talk about and to congratulate for the role that they play in volunteering in our community. When you look at the


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