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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-02-14 Daily Xml
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OAKDEN NURSING HOME

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (15:13): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse a question about the Oakden nursing home. On Tuesday 12 February, in reply to a question without notice, the minister advised this council that a new director of nursing had been appointed for Oakden Nursing Home after the previous director of nursing quit. Is the minister aware that the new acting director of nursing has not, in fact, commenced work on site, because that person is fulfilling training needs in order to be able to fill the position?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Environment and Conservation, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister Assisting the Minister for Health) (15:13): I find it quite remarkable, in terms of some of the distorted information that members bring to the chamber. For instance, in relation to the issue of the psychologist that was mentioned—

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins: No; I am talking about the director of nursing.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: I will get to that.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: This is an example of the distorted information that members of the opposition bring here.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: Yes; I will get to that. In relation to the psychologist, a temporary psychologist was, in fact, hired on a contract for six weeks to help staff. That psychologist was present during that time. She stayed for four weeks and the reason given was that she found the work too emotionally draining. She has worked for health before in another position. So, as I said, we can see that there is a great deal of distortion.

In relation to our senior management team, we have restructured that team. We have put in a number of new positions. I do not have the details of the timing of those, but we have put in a nurse advisor position and a new director of nursing position, and I understand that the director of nursing has met with staff and has already begun working on the strategies there. In relation to the other details that the honourable member has asked for, they are operational matters and I am more than happy to take those on notice and bring back a response.

The key message is that we have recognised that a number of problems have occurred at that facility. We have identified those problems. We have outlined a comprehensive action plan to ensure that all of the standards will be complied with. A number of those problems have already been mitigated, so a number of issues have already been fixed, and we are continuing to work on those that remain outstanding. As I said, there has been a restructuring of the management team to ensure that we have all of the skills and expertise that we need and the resources available to ensure that standards can be raised and that all commonwealth standards can be complied with.

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