Page 2017 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 7 June 2017
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
say that that number is too large and others that it is too small. For me, that is not a very smart argument from either side. As soon as we start putting the dollars first we start putting the people second, and that is not what good Labor governments do. I reassure the Assembly that this is a very good Labor government.
Whilst I know that it is not always perfect, I have always had impeccable service from Canberra’s healthcare system, from the birth of both my boys back in the 90s at the Canberra Hospital to the continued care and support of them during many childhood illnesses. One such memory has remained very clear in both my mind and that of my son Mark. As a child Mark and his friends were skating and scooting around and Mark had a bingle with another child. This bingle resulted in a very bad broken leg for Mark, but he got a ride in an ambulance. Whilst we know that ACT Ambulance Service response times are some of the best in the country, on this particular day that was little comfort to a screaming child and an anxious mum. The care and treatment provided by our wonderful ACT Ambulance Service paramedics was second to none. They were caring but firm when required, and the support and care continued from the nurses and doctors at the Canberra Hospital emergency department.
Mark had broken his tibia and fibula. For those who have not broken bones or just may not remember all the bones in the body, they are the two bones at the bottom of the leg—your shin bones. Mark had three lots of surgery to ensure that the bones healed properly. Mark is now 18 and he still talks about how grateful he was to the staff at the hospital—the nurses, the doctors, the Starlight Foundation staff, the school in the hospital, the physios and the volunteers—who spent countless hours helping him, me and other children in the ward. Yesterday’s budget has guaranteed that the next generation of unlucky skateboarding teens will get even better care.
The surgical procedures, interventional radiology and emergency centre are at the centre of the health budget and the ACT government’s 10-year health plan. The funding in this year’s budget includes an initial $6 million over two years to undertake the planning work for the centre and $230 million in capital provision over the following years to commence design and construction.
Other features of the new SPIRE centre at the Canberra Hospital will include: a larger intensive care unit, with 48 bed bays offering both high dependency and intensive care beds; a 24-bed coronary care unit for people requiring high-level care for heart conditions; more inpatient wards with 64 beds for patients requiring overnight care; more elective and day surgical spaces for patients who can be admitted and discharged within 24 hours; enhanced state-of-the-art surgical, procedural and imaging facilities; and new operating theatres increasing capacity from 13 to 20, giving ample capacity and allowing for the concurrent management of emergency and elective procedures.
As has been the ongoing topic of conversation over the past two days, I am not very well at the moment. Minister Fitzharris noted yesterday in question time that maybe I need to access some of the health services on offer, so that brings me to my next point: the introduction of additional bulk-billing services, particularly in my electorate of Murrumbidgee, that help many people receive the health care they need when they
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video