Page 3250 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 21 August 2019
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place to manage surges in demand. It is rare that we go to ambulance bypass but it is part of a broader strategy.
We are also implementing the timely care strategy which I have also spoken about in this place before. Again, several initiatives under that strategy have already been implemented, including daily multi-disciplinary staff ward huddles, hospital-wide flow management meetings, strategies to reduce barriers to discharge and discharging patients appropriately.
Part of the strategy that I have not particularly spoken about in relation to this is the establishment of the all-care discharge unit which opened on 11 July. It provides a broader model of care than the current discharge lounge, enabling non-ambulant patients to access this service. It is an important element of the timely care strategy that is being implemented across TCH to improve patient flow and ensure that our valuable hospital beds are being used as efficiently as possible.
Again, when Mrs Dunne gets around to being briefed on this in October, she will hear all about it.
MRS DUNNE: Minister, what is your government’s response to the position statement of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine? Are you aware of it? Will you create a formal response to the position statement?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I am happy to have a look at the position statement and consider whether a formal response is required. Again, taking into account the factual inaccuracies that have riddled the opposition’s questions over the past few weeks, I would want to be sure that they are talking about a situation like the ACT, where we have two hospitals that work very closely together to manage demand in a territory-wide service system. I will come back to the Assembly if I have more to add.
MR WALL: Minister, are you mismatching hospital inpatient service capacity with increased patient demand in our services?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I do not believe so.
Building—reforms
MS ORR: My question is to the Minister for Building Quality Improvement. Can the minister update the Assembly on the progress of the ACT’s building reforms and the outcomes of the recent building ministers forum?
MR RAMSAY: I thank Ms Orr for her question and her interest in the quality of building across the ACT. This government is committed to reforming our building regulatory system to ensure that we have the highest quality buildings in Australia. That is why we are rolling out a series of reforms to achieve this.
I am happy to advise the Assembly that we have now completed 28 of the 43 reforms, meeting the commitments that I made in this Assembly. We have finalised the certifiers code of practice, so that certifiers are clear on what is expected of them. We
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