Page 3970 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 25 November 2014

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The maternity unit’s training accreditation remains at risk of being revoked early in 2015 if officials cannot address urgent recommendations.

Minister, this report comes after the 2010 problems which saw 13 registrars resign. Minister, given that these seem to be the same sorts of problems in the same department, why will you not fully release all of these reports?

MS GALLAGHER: To begin, they are not the same issues and they do not involve the same people. The view of the college, and it is the college’s report, is that the report is not publicly released. I do not believe it has been publicly released—it has not been publicly released—and I do not think it has been privately released either. I think some handwritten notes have probably been typed up, from my reading of the article about the leaked document.

I am very confident that the systems that the director-general has put in place to respond to the concerns that have been raised, both by staff and now by the college, are being handled appropriately. I believe we should let the managers, who are paid to manage, do their job without further political interference.

MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Ms Lawder.

MS LAWDER: Minister, how can mothers, fathers and families feel confidence in your management of this maternity department if you continue to refuse to release the reports?

MS GALLAGHER: I do not think anyone is calling for the release of the report, other than the media or the Canberra Liberals. I have spoken to staff in the unit. They do not want it released. The college at this point in time has not authorised it for release. There is a management plan in place to deal with the issues that have been raised, and there are issues outside the college, the training side of the program, that are being actively managed, and a number of reviews are underway into that. It is being more than appropriately managed by the director-general and, indeed, by the senior and junior medical staff in the unit, whom it concerns.

In relation to mothers and families, I can report that the Canberra Hospital maternity unit is the maternity unit of choice for Canberrans. The numbers of people flooding to that unit continue; we continue to see that. And it is good that the public actually know about the high quality service that is provided there. This year it will exceed 5,000 births. Indeed one of the issues we are having with demand for the unit, which is creating some of the pressure for the workforce, is that women from the north side of Canberra are choosing to birth at the hospital in the excellent facilities that are provided there.

What needs to happen for that unit, again, is that the issues are managed between the executive of Health and the employees in that unit. I am very comfortable with the action that has been taken to date, and I believe that the issues are being actively managed and there is absolutely no suggestion of an impact on the clinical care being provided in the unit.


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