Page 2745 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 13 August 2019
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poor health outcomes have impacted on the health and wellbeing of my constituents, of your constituents. This should be a matter that we are concerned about.
The adult mental health unit at the Canberra Hospital is an example of where there have been poor health data and poor health outcomes. It has been full virtually since it was opened, even when the beds were not fully funded. Answers to estimates questions on notice showed that the adult mental health unit had an occupancy rate of 106 per cent in the last financial year. I understand that there will be full funding for all the beds in this financial year, but the occupancy rate is still expected to be close to 100 per cent. That is not a great place for the operation of health facilities. Patients with mental health issues often must wait in the ED for extended periods before they can be admitted. We are hearing reports from the community that patients are being discharged from adult mental health units into homelessness.
Being a mental health nurse is a very stressful job at the best of times. Having a high occupancy rate adds to the stress of the job because patients in the adult mental health unit require a greater level of monitoring and service than those in most areas of the hospital. There were also a high number of assaults in the adult mental health unit in the past year.
In 2016 the Labor Party announced in its election policy the surgical procedures, interventional radiology and emergency building, known as SPIRE. We have since found out that this policy was developed at the last minute in response to the Canberra Liberals’ well-thought-out and well-planned policy announcements. Those plans had been in the works since before 2012, and a considerable amount of work had been done on them. By contrast, SPIRE was developed on the back of a drinks coaster. There was no detailed planning of SPIRE prior to the 2016 election, and since 2016, the date at which it will be delivered has blown out to 2022-23.
The government has changed the site of the project. The occupants of building 5, which will be demolished to make way for the facility, will have to find new homes. The minister has spoken about decanting beginning fairly soon, as though that is the beginning of the SPIRE project. It is not the beginning of the SPIRE project; it is the beginning of disruption on the health campus. The scope and budget for this project seem to change on a regular basis. They change so frequently that now the government will not say what they expect to pay for it. Planning was delayed during the separation of ACT Health and Canberra Health Services, and we will not know the cost until next year.
The project has transferred to major projects because the former Minister for Health and the Health Directorate were not going to be able to deliver the project on time. The Canberra Times reported last month that the government was not going to seek expressions of interest until late this year. An initial construction contract will not be completed until the middle of next year, and construction will not start until 2021. In 2016, I need to remind you, Madam Assistant Speaker, the government promised that this whole project would be completed by 2022. It is now claiming that it will be finished by 2023. My estimate is that SPIRE will not be completed this side of the 2024 election.
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