ACTING Opposition Leader Jeremy Hanson will move a motion in the Legislative Assembly calling on the Chief Minister to establish a Royal Commission into the ACT health system.

In calling for the inquiry, last week the Canberra Liberals released a dramatic, staged  three-minute video titled “The Painful Truth” that highlights, through news clips and acted sequences, the breadth of the ACT health system’s problems.

He said the idea of an inquiry had been welcomed by the Australian Medical Association with the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation ACT Branch prepared to look at the details.

The response from the Health Minister to immediately reject a Royal Commission was “appalling” and showed the Labor-Greens government was more interested in playing politics than fixing the health system.

“If the Health Minister is aware of all the problems and is fixing them, why does the ACT continually have the worst health system in the country,” Hanson said.

“It is now time for the ACT Greens to stand up for Canberrans, say enough is enough and back our calls for a Royal Commission.”

“The Canberra Liberals are contacted daily by frustrated doctors, nurses and patients outlining the many problems that are not being addressed by the minister.

“It is not good enough for the ACT to have the longest emergency department wait times in the country, more than 6000 patients overdue for an endoscopy, tens of thousands of Canberrans overdue for surgery, issues with the ICU and a poor workplace culture.”

He said Tuesday’s motion would highlight the terms of reference as including but not be limited to, staffing shortages, cultural problems, poor results across key performance indicators, waiting times, management and outcomes in the mental health system, governance, infrastructure, and funding shortfalls.

Libs video enforces Hanson’s call for health enquiry