The ACT government might struggle to meet its target of tripling the territory's intensive care unit capacity amid the COVID-19 crisis because of barriers in accessing vital medical supplies, an Assembly inquiry has heard.
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Canberra Health Services deputy chief executive Dave Peffer made the comments on Thursday morning, as senior officials gave evidence to the Legislative Assembly committee probing the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith, who also gave evidence to the committee, earlier this month said the ACT had set a target of tripling the number of intensive care beds from 50 to about 170.
The number represented the capital region's share of the 7000 intensive care beds the federal government wants to make available nationally amid the pandemic.
Responding to the committee's questions via telephone on Thursday, Mr Peffer said the number of intensive care beds could be doubled by re-purposing existing equipment, such as ventilators.
But to reach the target of 170 beds, the government needed to source new equipment from overseas, a process Mr Peffer said was proving difficult.
"Those orders have been placed," he said.
"But the ACT is facing similar challenges to all jurisdictions about actually bringing equipment into the country, particularly where there is a lot of competition from a lot of other big sovereign nations," he said.
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Mr Peffer said changes to defence manufacturing laws in the US had "materially impacted" other nations' ability to import vital equipment.
He said industry ministers and the private sector were looking at options to incentivise the production of medical supplies in Australia, so the country wasn't so reliant on overseas markets.
The committee, chaired by opposition leader Alistair Coe, spent much of the one-hour hearing pushing for more information about the coronavirus field hospital under construction on Garran Oval, next to Canberra Hospital.
The government has attached a $23 million price tag to the project, but Mr Peffer said that was only an "original estimate", and the cost could be higher or lower depending on patient demand.
He said the contract with project partner Aspen Medical meant the 50-bed facility wouldn't need to be fully operational from the start; there was provisions for it to be scaled-up to meet demand as it came.
Asked whether experts who had been consulted on the project all agreed that it was necessary for the ACT's fight against COVID-19, Mr Peffer said there was "differing views".
"But when you look at expanding capacity, you have to look at what is the worst-case scenario and how are we going to cope with that ... and you plan on the basis," he said.
"But [we also needed to] build in the flexibility to respond if that doesn't eventuate. So the way the facility has been designed and the way it is built and the arrangements for workforce is our best effort to do that."
For information on COVID-19, please go to the ACT Health website or the federal Health Department's website.
- You can also call the Coronavirus Health Information Line on 1800 020 080
- If you have serious symptoms, such as difficulty breathing, call Triple Zero (000)
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Dan Jervis-Bardy
Dan covers federal politics from Parliament House, with a special focus on climate policy and the NDIS. He has previously reported on ACT politics and urban affairs since joining the Canberra Times in 2018.
Dan covers federal politics from Parliament House, with a special focus on climate policy and the NDIS. He has previously reported on ACT politics and urban affairs since joining the Canberra Times in 2018.
