Page 2646 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 7 August 2013
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I quote from a statement from ACT Health:
This report shows that the Walk-in Centre at Canberra Hospital provides a safe and effective service that is supported and valued by many members of the ACT community.
The Walk-in Centre located at Canberra Hospital is the first nurse led Walk-in Centre in Australia.
This Independent Evaluation of the Nurse-led ACT Health Walk-in Centre report was compiled by representatives of the Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute and The Australian National University.
This report confirms that the implementation of this first nurse led Walk-in Centre is having a positive impact on patients and practitioners across the Territory.
The report highlights that 84% of patients surveyed would definitely recommend the Walk-in Centre to family and friends, with 82% stating that they would definitely use the Walk-in Centre again.
I mentioned that earlier. It continues:
There are many positive findings in the report and there are also some areas of improvement.
The ACT government is working on those. During the election campaign I, along with my team, doorknocked more than 6,000 south Tuggeranong residents about this very topic and ACT Labor’s commitment to increase this service by creating an additional centre in Tuggeranong. May I resonate the sentiments of the independent evaluation as, when I was out in the electorate speaking to these residents, the response we received was absolutely ecstatic.
Most residents that we spoke to through our visits during the campaign were pleased with the government’s decision to take the walk-in centres into town centres and therefore boost the availability to those who need it most. With $951,000 being allocated to the Tuggeranong and Belconnen walk-in centre design and fit-out in the 2013-14 budget, this government is showing its commitment to the future of these walk-in clinics. This is exactly what the government’s health reform is all about. This government is committed to ensuring that affordable and, whenever possible, free health care is accessible to all residents who require it.
While receiving no negative responses—so out of all of those doorknocks not one negative response—to the walk-in centre, some people had had the opportunity to utilise it—so some had actually been there—but all thought it was a great idea.
This motion implies that the walk-in centre is not wanted or properly used by the community. That is simply untrue, with the walk-in centre’s popularity growing steadily, with 21,000 visits in 2012-13 alone. This, along with the positive feedback that I and many others in the chamber hear every day, makes the opposition claims completely false. I will quote one satisfied visitor to the walk-in centre:
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