Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith says there has been ‘give and take’. Photo: Ian Bushnell.
Three of the six surgeons who quit the Canberra Hospital orthopaedics team have taken back their resignations after Canberra Health Services gave ground on changes to contracts and theatre scheduling.
Confirmation of the concessions comes as the Canberra Liberals call for an independent inquiry into orthopaedic and cardiac surgery in the ACT’s public hospitals.
The surgeons, including head of department Professor Paul Smith, began quitting in March over the new Operations Centre’s planned care approach designed to bring greater efficiency to theatre scheduling, and a shift from fee-for-service contracts to per-session ones as part of cost-saving measures.
The orthopaedics team kept their own surgical list, out of view of the Operations Centre and other surgeons, and accused hospital bureaucrats of interfering in their clinical decisions.
However, CHS insisted there needed to be transparency across the system to achieve the efficiencies the hospital required.
Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith confirmed the turnaround, saying there had been a “bit of give and take” on the contracts issue and lists.
Ms Stephen-Smith said CHS had indicated to surgeons that it would adjust some of the fee-for-service contract arrangements but not move everybody on to sessional visiting medical officer contracts.
She said it was never the intention to move all surgeons off fee-for-service contracts.
“We never said that we wanted to move everybody off those straight away,” Ms Stephen-Smith said.
“So there has been a bit of give and take on that front, a bit more understanding of where fee for service makes sense and where sessional is going to make more sense both for the clinicians and for the efficiency of Canberra Health Services and the cost effectiveness for taxpayers.”
Ms Stephen Smith said CHS was also taking another look at how theatres were scheduled.
She said CHS was working to integrate the problematic orthopedic surgeons’ patient list with the general list run by the Operations Centre.
“There’s a real understanding now about the importance of transparency right across the system, both from the Operations Centre to the surgeons and in the other direction as well,” she said.
“The Digital Health Record team is also working with the orthopedic surgeons to understand how we’ll need to tweak the Digital Health Record so that they can schedule in the way that they are used to doing and want to do, but also so that they can fit in with the way that the Operation Centre is working to improve the efficiency of theatre use, which actually benefits everyone.”
Ms Stephen-Smith said this should result in a much more collaborative approach to the way that the orthopaedic team works with the other surgical teams.
She said surgical teams across the board were now embracing efforts to improve planned care for consumers.
But there remained more work to do.
“We want to continue that conversation and ensure that everyone is playing a part in improving our planned care processes and that they work for both the clinicians as well as for the consumers.”
Ms Stephen-Smith said the government had also renegotiated the elective joint replacement program with Calvary John James Hospital.
Opposition Leader Leanne Castley is calling for an independent inquiry into cardiology and orthopaedic surgery in the ACT, citing interference in clinical decision-making, resourcing concerns, declining morale and unresolved issues with the Digital Health Record impacting diagnostic results, theatre scheduling, and multidisciplinary care planning.
She will move a motion in the Legislative Assembly this week calling on the government to establish the inquiry within three months, led by a chair with no current employment or contractual relationship with ACT public hospitals.
