Page 1572 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 8 May 2018
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I acknowledge that there is increased demand and that on a very busy day, because babies do not always come when they are planned to come, as most parents in this room will know, those processes are managed responsibly. There is within the Centenary hospital a maternal escalation policy extending the hours of the maternity assessment unit, rostering additional doctors and midwives, introducing assistance in midwifery to maternity services and, as I mentioned earlier, doubling the number of graduate midwives coming in this year. Also, there is a policy that involves referring women to the most appropriate ACT or New South Wales hospital.
There are a range of measures in place. I repeat again: I have been informed by clinicians, by lead clinicians at the Centenary hospital, that decisions will only be made based on clinically sound decision-making.
MR WALL: Minister, why is the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children having problems with high-risk pregnancies?
MS FITZHARRIS: It is not the advice to me that there are significant problems. In answer to four questions in a row I have outlined quite extensively that the advice to me from clinicians—which we have heard from the opposition this morning they respect—is that Centenary hospital is a safe and wonderful place to have a baby. Decisions made there by clinicians are clinically based.
MRS DUNNE: Minister, how will three extra beds in Calvary’s maternity unit meet the increased workload resulting from population increases and your plan to redirect pregnant women from the Centenary hospital?
MS FITZHARRIS: It is one of the ways that we might better manage maternity services here in the ACT. When a minister is faced with capacity that is increasing at one facility and decreasing at another, in quite significant numbers, it is not appropriate to have wonderful staff—nurses, midwives, doctors—at Calvary hospital wishing to treat women in our community, wishing to be able to work with women and their families so that more women can give birth at Calvary Public Hospital.
One of the ways that we are doing that is by increasing investment in the facility, because many women have given feedback over a number of years now that one of the key reasons they would like to attend Centenary is the quality of the infrastructure. Calvary is currently under capacity and we want to change that.
Planning—Curtin master plan
MR STEEL: My question is to the Minister for Planning and Land Management. Minister, can you outline to the Assembly the consultation currently underway to finalise the Curtin group centre master plan?
MR GENTLEMAN: I thank Mr Steel for his question and his interest in the Curtin community. The ACT government is finalising the master plan for the Curtin group centre. The master plan draws on the centre’s existing strengths and outlines a vision, planning principles and strategies to guide growth and development in the centre. It
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