From a fire on a hospital switchboard that was previously flagged as an "extreme risk", to the ongoing data woes and the revelation there was potentially dangerous cladding on Canberra's Centenary Hospital - the year wasn't short of crises.

And for the first time since 2015, ACT Health submitted data to the Institute of Health and Welfare, allowing it to be compared to its peers on emergency department and elective surgery waiting times.

But with reform of ACT Health starting to gain momentum, health minister Meegan Fitzharris says the public will start noticing significant changes this year.

Minister's first year

Last year was Health Minister Meegan Fitzharris's first year in undoubtedly one of the most challenging portfolios during a time of significant reform.

She has come under fire from the opposition for not being across the portfolio, citing a number of times she claimed not to have been briefed on significant issues.

"They would say that," Ms Fitzharris said.

"The very nature of health is that ... as minister I don't need to know everything that's happening that is why there are seven and a half thousand people working in health.

"I see my role as providing clear priorities for health that reflect what I strongly believe are the priorities of the community.

"After a year I feel I am across the portfolio."

The flurry of reform has left some in the health sector concerned about a lack of consultation during the process.

The Australian Medical Association conveyed fears the ACT was in he midst of "reform fatigue".

Members of the ACT Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drug Strategy Evaluation Group, say the group was not convened at all during 2017.

Ms Fitzharris said the reform process - led by ACT Health director Nicole Feely - has and continues to take place with significant consultation.

She said she has a good relationship with Ms Feely with good communication between the minister's office and the directorate.

Crises points

ACT Health was still plagued with data issues through 2017, with an urgent external review ordered in February.

It was the first year since 2015 that ACT Health submitted data on a national level, but it admitted there were still errors in its data when questioned by The Canberra Times about a set of emergency department figures.

The year also saw the government come under fire for not replacing an aging switchboard at Canberra Hospital earlier which caused a fire, leading to the evacuation of 60 patients and delays in treatment and surgery.

A contract to replace the switchboard was signed just days after the fire.

2017 also saw the revelation that Canberra's Centenary Hospital was built with combustible cladding.

While the hospital met safety codes when it was completed in 2012, the government was aware of combustibility issues with such panels as early as 2009.

The Australian Salaried Medical Officers' Federation ACT secretary Stephen Crook said there was a "crippling shortage" of psychiatrists in the ACT in 2017.

The opposition's health spokeswoman Vicki Dunne said despite all the headline grabbing stuff-ups throughout the year, her main concern was about the lack of connectivity in the health sector and ease of access to services.

Among the most serious is the severe lack of access to adolescent mental health services.

"For me the real issues are with the people who are not getting the service that they need when they need it.

Ms Fitzharris said she has learnt there are always going to be challenges in health.

"We have a large and capable work force that work hard every day and one of the few operations that are 24 hours a day and seven days," she said.

"We have established very good frameworks and our infrastructure capacity is very strong."

What's coming in 2018?

This year the government will open a new nurse walk-in centre in Gungahlin, but not everyone is happy about it.

The government has been actively encouraging the community to attend the centres through radio advertisements and links on its own website.

Many doctors and groups such as the Australian Medical Association say a stand alone nurse centre is an inefficient model, which also undercuts GPs and has no proven public health benefits

Each walk-in centre visit costs ACT taxpayers $188.

"Criminal waste of taxpayers money," Ms Dunne said.

"Yes we need more bulk billing, we're making good inroads ...but if we were making really good inroads those people would be being seen at no cost to the ACT taxpayer, and at a cost of the Australian taxpayer of $37."

Ms Fitzharris could not cite any recent data or research it based its decision to expand the centres.

But she said the government believed there had been a "small diversion" away from emergency departments with the centres helping build understanding among the community about where to go at the right time for the right care.

The coming year will see the opening of a new hospital in Canberra, which should provide the government with some much needed good news.

It will likely be the first year the public will be able to see the benefits of ACT Health reforms.

"At the moment the system itself isn't geared enough towards individual patients and their families," Ms Fitzharris said.

"That work is really well advanced and next year we'll start to see centres develop and those centres will start to have practical plans around them.

"For example if you're unwell it will bring in relevant doctors, nurses and allied health professionals all in to one centre to bring you care.

"I think for those people who have had an injury or an illness that requires rehabilitation that will be a significant change when the UC rehabilitation hospital opens in the middle of next year."

Ms Dunne said ACT Health was too often well behind deadline in producing promised documents or polices.

Earlier in the year Ms Fitzharris was pressed on the need to update the territory's outdated guidelines for prescribing opioids and narcotics.

"She said to us in september that she had that document in their office and she was going to deal with it soon," Ms Dunne said.

"Now it's December and we haven't seen it," she said.

"Those sorts of delays are everywhere in the health department."

While The Canberra Times was told late last year the guidelines would be available before the end of the year, the government now says they will be finalised early this year.