Page 150 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 14 December 2016

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Patients are already benefiting from the improvements the government has made to emergency care at the Canberra Hospital ED. The number of patients completing their emergency department treatment within a four-hour period has significantly increased. The daily average was around 63 per cent more than a year ago; in June this year the result had lifted to an average of almost 74 per cent.

So far this year we have seen the opening of key areas of the ED expansion: the new mental health short-stay unit, paediatric streaming, a new discharge stream and the extra emergency medicine unit. The resuscitation area also now has two additional bays that have the ability to be used for negative pressure isolation if required. Upgrades to the triage and main waiting areas have been completed. They are a huge improvement, and ED medical imaging equipment has been installed and will soon be fully operational. This will be the final component of the rebuild and it will open before Christmas.

I should also point out that a new emergency department will be built next to the SPIRE centre, allowing the existing emergency department to be dedicated to women and children. Work on this scoping study, as I mentioned, will start early in 2017.

Alexander Maconochie Centre—methadone program

MS LEE: Madam Speaker, my question is to the Minister for Health. How many times have prisoners been placed on a methadone program when they were not addicted to heroin?

MS FITZHARRIS: Thank you for the question. I will take that on notice and provide the Assembly with more detail. It may well happen within the prison environment.

MS LEE: How many times have prisoners been prescribed methadone for pain?

MS FITZHARRIS: I will take that one on notice.

MRS JONES: Again, perhaps operating in corrections as well, what action has been taken to review methadone use at the AMC since the Moss report? If no action has been taken, then why not?

MS FITZHARRIS: I will take that on notice. I certainly know the government is focused on implementing the recommendations of the Moss report.

Domestic and family violence

MS CODY: My question is for the Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence. Minister, can you please advise the Assembly of the work being undertaken to reduce family violence in our community, in particular the significance of the recent 16 days of activism global campaign.

MS BERRY: I thank the member for her question. Unfortunately, domestic and family violence remains an issue that continues to affect our entire community,


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