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- 18 October 2001
Kempsey District Hospital Mental Facilities
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Page: 17631
Mr STONER: My question is directed to the Minister for Health. Does the Minister stand by Mid North Coast Area Health Service statements that a mother's claims that her mentally ill son was forced to wait at Kempsey District Hospital from 7.00 p.m. until midnight last Thursday for an assessment, only to be told that she would have to drive 3½ hours to take him to Newcastle, were mischievous?
Mr KNOWLES: Whether or not the statements were mischievous, I am happy to have them further substantiated.
Mr Hartcher: Why don't you run the hospitals properly in the first place?
Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call the honourable member for Gosford to order. I call the honourable member for Davidson to order for the second time.
Mr KNOWLES: It is an excellent question that deserves a fair answer. I am tempted to give the honourable member for Oxley a fair answer but his colleague the honourable member for Gosford is making a goose of himself. I have seen the press clippings that contain the assertions made by area health service staff and they can be accountable. However, whether or not that is in the context of the inquiries that are going on following the closure of ward 149 at Kempsey hospital, which follows the death of a patient there, I am happy to have those matters looked at in the context of the overall WorkCover and coronial inquiries, as well as the independent mental health inquiries into the future of the Kempsey unit. The Kempsey mental health unit has provided a service to local communities for many years. Now it is the subject of inquiries because of the recent and tragic death there.
I have visited the hospital on two occasions and interviewed the staff and various interested personnel about the future of that unit. I have their views. However, it is appropriate that the unit remain closed until the independent reviews are completed. I have conveyed that view personally to the mayor of Kempsey to her satisfaction, and she understands that that is the case. No-one would want to re-open the unit until the inquiries are completed. The objective is to ensure that the big increases in mental health funding that have gone to the mid North Coast since we began redistributing health services, with a big expansion of facilities at Coffs Harbour and the new unit under construction at Manning Base Hospital—
[Interruption]
If the honourable member for Coffs Harbour wants to turn this into a little political dig, let us do so. However, this is a legitimate question from a local member about the allegations of an area health service employee. I am happy to have the allegations checked but in the context of the events that have been widely covered and the subsequent inquiries, it is appropriate that the Kempsey unit remain closed until those inquiries are completed. That may mean some disruption of services locally for local residents, but let us not pretend for one moment that there has not been an enormous investment in new mental health services on the mid North Coast. A new hospital is being built at Coffs Harbour. The Coalition Government proposed to build that hospital in two stages, but Ron Phillips could not get it done.
Mr Fraser: That's a lie and you know it.
Mr KNOWLES: If the honourable member checks the budget papers he will see that the intention was to build the new hospital in two stages.
Mr Fraser: That's a lie.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The honourable member for Coffs Harbour will remain silent.
Mr KNOWLES: The first thing we did was bring stages one and two together and build a $53 million project, which has turned into a $80 million project. Why? That happened because the additional stage was built to provide additional mental health beds for that region. What else is happening? At the other end of the same region, at Manning Base Hospital at Taree, as I speak another brand-new acute mental health care unit is under construction. After years of National Party representation and non-delivery of services in the North Coast by former Ministers of Health, not one but two new mental health care units are under construction and nearing completion within the next two months, with the opening of the Coffs Harbour unit just weeks away. I make no apology for the closure of the Kempsey unit at this point. There has been a tragic death that is subject to investigation—several investigations. The process will take as long as it takes because it is being done independently.
Mr Stoner: The people are suffering while you run around with red tape and reports.
Mr KNOWLES: If the honourable member is saying that he would like me to interfere in an independent inquiry into the death of a patient in a hospital, he should put that on the record; otherwise, I think almost anyone else on this planet would suggest that an independent inquiry is the way to go.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call the honourable member for Coffs Harbour to order for the second time.
Mr KNOWLES: I will not interfere in an independent inquiry into the death of a patient in a mental health unit. The investigation will take as long as it takes because that is the nature of a coronial inquiry. If the honourable member for Oxley disagrees with that, he should document his disagreement in Hansard and have a go at the Coroner. Now the honourable member can ask his supplementary question.
Mr STONER: I ask a supplementary question. In the light of the Minister's answer, will he now respond to the letter from the patient's mother and apologise to her for area health service claims that she has been mischievous?
Mr SPEAKER: Order! That is not a supplementary question.
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