Page 4754 - Week 13 - Thursday, 28 November 2019
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MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Mrs Jones for the supplementary question, but I do not agree with her characterisation. A concern has been raised in relation to this matter. We are looking at what we need to do to respond to that concern. We will respond to it, as we do with all concerns that are raised by oversight agencies in the normal course of business.
Hospitals—day surgery capacity
MRS DUNNE: My question is to the Minister for Health. Minister, I quote from a Facebook post that appeared on my feed yesterday, 27 November. It reads: “My mum was booked for surgery yesterday, we got her up and dressed by 5.30 to go by 6am to day surgery unit; waited around for 5 hours, only to be told the surgery is cancelled as they don’t have enough beds for the next 4 days … She was dressed in operating gown etc. thankfully not canulated yet. Family had flown here, booked accommodation etc. It is just so sad. All that anxiety now put off to go through it all again until next week which is still not confirmed.” Minister, why did it take five hours for a day surgery patient to be told that she could not have day surgery because there would not be enough recovery beds for her?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I would appreciate it if Mrs Dunne were able to clarify—I am not sure if it was clear in the Facebook post—which hospital the patient was being seen at.
In relation to Canberra Health Services and Canberra Hospital, I have been assured that Canberra Hospital seeks to reschedule operations as infrequently as it can, but sometimes there are pressures resulting from emergency surgeries that come in where elective surgeries have to be rescheduled. Again, when they have to do that, they seek to do that in the timeliest way possible with the least disruption to people possible.
We are talking about a complex system that is one of the busiest hospitals in the country in terms of emergency, an acute tertiary hospital that serves the ACT and surrounding region very well. One of the things that I have been talking with Canberra Health Services about is how we communicate those things better to patients and families to ensure that they are receiving timely information if surgery does have to be postponed.
I am very sorry to hear about the experience that has been conveyed to Mrs Dunne via Facebook. If there is further information available, of course we will look into the specifics of that matter.
MRS DUNNE: Minister, do Canberra Health Services or Calvary hospital prioritise elderly people when they are looking at cancellations to ensure that they are not disrupted? As you can see from the story that goes with this, a lot of planning was gone into by this woman’s family to ensure that she was properly cared for. How do you go about ensuring that these elderly people are not put in such difficult positions?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: Ignoring the fact that Mrs Dunne went on with a preamble that she would certainly have called others out on and then asked another question—
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