Page 4025 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 26 November 2014
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This is the unit that the minister has said she is going to fix, this is the unit that we have raised repeated concerns about, and this is the unit about which Katy Gallagher said, “It’s just doctor politics. The staff are addressing it. The staff are fixing it.” It is the staff that are raising the concerns, and it is the external reviews, both the one in 2010 that we have seen and which was tabled in this place, and the review that has been done by the royal college—of which we have not been provided a copy—that are raising these concerns.
Madam Speaker, enough of the cover-ups, enough of the denials, enough of dismissing this as just doctor politics. I am calling for three things. We need to have a copy of the report. The minister can go to the royal college and say it is important that this report be tabled. It is important that the community understands what is going on in this unit. Just saying, “I don’t think that the royal college would want it released,” is not good enough. Has she asked them for a copy so that she can table it? If necessary, it can be tabled in camera so that we can see it and understand the problems. The minister needs to come into this place, as I call for in this motion, and specify the actions that she personally has taken to make sure that in another four years we are not back here with the same concerns about bullying, a toxic culture and risk to patients.
This minister needs to assure the Assembly and the community that she is going to fix this problem. She needs to provide that assurance. If she cannot provide that assurance then it is time to step aside. After eight years as health minister, after four or five years of grappling with this problem, after denials, after the cover-ups, after dismissing this as an issue, it is time for this to be fixed.
MS GALLAGHER (Molonglo—Chief Minister, Minister for Health, Minister for Higher Education and Minister for Regional Development) (10.17): The government will not be supporting the motion moved by Mr Hanson today. However, we have circulated an amendment to the motion which deals with the facts of the matter. I move the amendment that has been circulated in my name:
Omit all words after “That this Assembly”, substitute:
“(1) notes that:
(a) the Obstetrics and Gynaecology (O&G) Unit at The Canberra Hospital is a highly specialised medical unit providing 3252 births and 20 408 occasions of gynaecological and obstetric care for women across the region;
(b) the high quality outcomes experienced by patients of the unit;
(c) in 2010, staff of the unit raised concerns about the interpersonal relationships within the unit, and that these concerns were addressed at that time;
(d) in September 2014, the Minister for Health received an anonymous letter raising concerns within the unit;
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