Health services for women and children are set to receive a $10.7 million cash injection in next week's ACT budget, with the government committing funding for community-based and outpatient care as well more beds and staff for Centenary Hospital for Women and Children.
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Tuesday's ACT budget will include $8.8 million for an additional five beds and 15.4 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff within the Centenary Hospital as well as $1.9 million for community-based and outpatient care for women and children.
Chief Minister Katy Gallagher and Treasurer Andrew Barr will announce the funding to expand and enhance services for women and children on Friday.
"This continued investment will see high-quality health services continue to be delivered in both the hospital setting and in the community," Ms Gallagher said.
The Chief Minister said the additional funding was part of a commitment made in 2012 to provide $29.5 million over four years to open more beds at Centenary Hospital and increase access to outpatient services and women and children's services.
The Chief Minister said births at ACT public hospitals had increased 16 per cent over the past three years, with births at The Canberra Hospital increasing 20 per cent during that time.
She said the funding would benefit the neonatal intensive care unit, paediatrics and the birthing areas.
Ms Gallagher said the $1.9 million in the budget for community-based and outpatient care would boost maternal and child health programs, antenatal services, paediatric diabetes services and follow-up care after acute illnesses.
The Australian Medical Association's ACT president, Elizabeth Gallagher, welcomed the funding, saying more staff and hospital beds were positive news.
"To me, as an obstetrician, the crisis is on a day-to-day basis trying to meet demand within the hospital system," she said.
"It became very obvious when the unit opened that the growth was exponential and it reached near-capacity a lot earlier than they thought it would.
"It's certainly not future-proofed at the moment and there's a constant strain on the staff and on beds at the moment. More beds are definitely welcome. If they're going to increase staff, that's fantastic but they need to make sure they're appropriate trained and experienced.
"The devil is going to be in the detail as to where that money goes and it's really important they talk to the people on the ground to make sure the money goes to where it's really needed."
Opposition Leader Jeremy Hanson welcomed the funding, but said Centenary Hospital should "have been built the right way in the first place with sufficient capacity with an appropriate model of care".
"We know Canberra Hospital is running at about 98 per cent capacity, which is considered dangerous by clinical standards by the AMA and other groups," he said. "I will be following the issue up in the estimates hearings to analyse whether it [the funding] is sufficient or not.
"It is clear that there is an insufficient number of beds, insufficient staff, a model of care that has been problematic and something needs to be done.
"I welcome this funding and, whether it's enough, we will have to investigate and inquire with the minister in more detail."
Centenary Hospital was built under the health infrastructure program, the ACT government's largest infrastructure program.
