Page 20 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 9 February 2016
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
This is about making sure that this blitz is not a one-off; it is a part of a sustainable, long-term reform to improve timeliness in the delivery of elective surgery. These measures will not only benefit long wait patients; they will benefit all patients requiring elective surgery. These long-term improvements include: process and surgery utilisation improvements at our two public hospitals; partnering with the private sector and with interstate facilities; the further recruitment of specialist staff; and capitalising on innovation in technology and on new care changes and requirements.
Turning to improved surgery utilisation through process change, there are a range of initiatives that we will build on to improve our access to theatres and change how we allocate and triage surgery. Following the blitz there will be an ongoing process that continually improves theatre allocations in a flexible way which will allow quick responses to changing demand patterns for surgery. A key part of the surgery utilisation improvement is the central waiting list service that has now been established. This service involves a team of nurses and support staff who receive all surgery requests. The requests are coordinated through this single team who then allocate patients to hospitals to improve access to surgery in the two public hospitals. This newly established service will continue to improve access for patients and flowthrough for doctors.
The government is absolutely aware that it is not as simple as just changing times and sessions for surgeons. Most of our surgeons already have busy private practices in addition to their public work, and any changes need to take this into consideration.
Turning to the role of our two public hospitals, members would be aware that there are two public hospitals that provide elective surgery to public patients in the ACT. Both public hospitals are finalising their lists for the next five months to ensure that any unallocated theatre sessions can now be allocated to provide additional surgery services. More work will also be done in the coming months to establish a more integrated approach to the delivery of elective surgery across both ACT public hospitals by looking at total capacity, total allocation and, of course, efficiency.
The government provided more than $12 million to Cavalry hospital in the 2015-16 budget, including $5.6 million for a refurbishment and new equipment for operating theatres. Following its completion in 2018 the new University of Canberra public hospital—which I was very pleased to join with the Chief Minister, my ministerial colleagues and the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Canberra yesterday to see work commence on—will also play a part in supporting patients post surgery. It will be a hospital designed to focus entirely on subacute health care. These are services which aim to improve patient mobility and functioning, often after surgery or other acute hospital admission.
Having a hospital without the intense acute areas of surgery, an emergency department or an intensive care unit makes the focus about treating people in a facility specifically designed for rehabilitation and prevention. By focusing on new and expanded subacute services, the University of Canberra public hospital will help to alleviate pressure on acute facilities such as Canberra and Calvary.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video