Chief Minister Gallagher is giving notice of what you can get should your Christmas go pear shaped on the health front:
ACT Public Hospitals
The Emergency Departments at both Canberra Hospital and Calvary Hospital will operate as normal.
Elective surgery will be scaled back over the period as in previous years to enable staff to take leave and [...]

Hop! Skip! Jump!!Clap!!!
Simple movement & rhythm classes for kids & parents this school holidays.
When: Thursday afternoons January 2012- 5 Jan;12 Jan; 19 Jan; 26 Jan 2012
4.30-5.25pm (6-8 years) + parents
5.30-6.25pm (9-12 years)+ parents
Where: Palmerston Community Centre,Tiptree Cres & Kosciuszko Avenue, Palmerston.

Cost: $10 per child/$15 child & parent together
Contact:   Nora Stewart 6230 [...]

The Liberals Jeremy Hanson is jumping up and down about a story on the radio today:
“Today, we learnt of a post-surgery case at The Canberra Hospital in which staff allegedly did not change a patient?s wound dressing, which then led to emergency surgery to treat the problem,” Mr Hanson said today.
“The patient was allegedly refused [...]

The disability support system in both the ACT and Australia wide has long been in need of an overhaul. People with disabilities are often unable to participate in all aspects of life like people without disabilities, because there is not enough care and support available to them.
Nearly 100,000 Australians have already put their hope for [...]

The Liberals’ Jeremy Hanson continues his roasting of Katy Gallagher’s health record:
Today’s AMA public hospital report shows the median wait time for elective surgery has doubled since ACT Labor came to office and is twice the national average.
“After 10 years of ACT Labor, and five years with Katy Gallagher as Health Minister, the time for [...]

The Australian champion dragon boat team and ACTsport Team of the Year, the Ice Dragons, are now recruiting for the coming season. Open Day is from 10.30am to 1.00pm at Lotus Bay in Lake Burley Griffin. More details at www.icedragons.com.au.

The ANU has the disturbing news blaming flourescent lighting on a rise in eye disease.
Published today in the American Journal of Public Health, the new study has found that fluorescent lighting may cause a 12 per cent rise in UV-related eye diseases plus an extra 3000 cataract cases and 7500 cases of pterygia in [...]

The Environment and Sustainable Development Directorate has released the results of their testing following the Mitchell Fire and announced that 420,000 litres of PCB containing oil have burned off, despite the best efforts of the Fire Brigade to pour water onto them as they burned, without any ill effects whatsover.
If the testing is accurate [...]

Are you confused yet? I am.
Amanda Bresnan is unhappy the ACT Health Council is bineg disbanded in the wake of the creation of the Local Hospital Network Council.
“The factors most likely to affect a person’s health outcomes go far beyond hospitals. The Health Council itself has stated that the biggest threat to life expectancies in [...]

Chief Minister Katy Gallagher has announced the release of ANU’s study of the nurse-led ACT Health Walk-in Centre (WIC).
The report appears to be terrified of making any conclusive statements but seems to go along with the most common criticism of the WIC, that it increases activity on the hospital campus:
Overall it appears most likely that [...]

Chief Minister Katy Gallagher has announced the makeup of the first ACT Local Hospital Network Council:
– Mr Michael Peedom
– Professor Nicholas Glasgow
– Ms Lynette Brown
– Ms Mary Montgomery
– Ms Colleen Duff
– Dr Rashmi Sharma
– Mr Michael Moore
– Mr John Runko
– Ms Darlene Cox
– Ms Megan Cahill
This is part of Kevin Rudd’s largely forgotten and mostly [...]

A subject dear to the hearts of all Canberra’s woodfire burning households is the use of railway sleepers which provide excellent recycled long lasting heating.
But the Beast has been giving air to warnings from the Firewood Association about the health risks of using sleepers as fuel:
The Firewood Association has long since banned the sale of [...]

Canberra obstetrician Dr Andrew Foote is in today’s Canberra Times saying that “public hospital is safe, but private hospital is safer”. He is concerned that since government capped the Medicare Safety Net payments for obstetric services, women with private health insurance are choosing to have their babies in public hospitals because of the gap fees. [...]

Andrew Barr is celebrating Sports Commission data which apparently shows Canberrans are more active than they have been since the dawn of RiotACT (2000).
The survey started in 2001 and measures the frequency, nature and type of activities
of persons aged 15 years and over for exercise, recreation and sport during the 12
months prior to interview.
ERASS 2010 [...]

Have you ever wished you didn’t have to wait a week to get a GP appointment? Wondered where to go for help after a sexual assault? Wanted a private midwife closer than a one hour drive from Canberra? Know what services the women’s health centre provides?
Australia’s largest network of organisations advocating for women’s equality is [...]

Chief Minister Gallagher has always had a tendency to mothering the public (put a jumper on, wash your hands, blow).
Now she wants to take charge of the children too and get them out in the fresh air instead of sitting in from of “electronic entertainment”.
“The incidences of overweight and obesity in children has doubled since [...]

The Budget Papers are now available
Here are the highlights from the Treasurer’s speech:
Overview:
Targeted, recurrent expenditure with a net impact of $266.5 million over four years is made in this Budget for sensible and needed investments in healthcare, schools, community safety, and municipal and community services…
The Budget returns to surplus in 2013-14 as forecast last year [...]

The Greens’ Amanda Bresnan has announced that she has tabled a “Fast Food Information Bill”:
Major fast food outlets would be required to display the energy (in kilojoules) content of food products on menu boards under new laws proposed by ACT Greens Health spokesperson, Amanda Bresnan MLA.
“People are eating out more often, so it is more [...]

I am new to Canberra and would like to know where to open a dental practice.
Are there any surburbs where there is a big demand or shortage?
Are Canberra people looking for family or cosmetic dentists?

The Greens’ Amanda Bresnan has finally had enough of the divergent realities of Pollyanna Gallagher and Cassandra Hanson:
“It’s getting increasingly frustrating to watch the two old parties claiming such radically different interpretations of the state of the ACT health system, when both know very well that the truth is in between,” Ms Bresnan
“It’s predictable that [...]

Katy Gallagher has announced the legislation today of a Local Hospital Network (LHN) for the ACT:
The ACT’s Local Hospital Network will -
– Consist of The Canberra Hospital (TCH); Calvary Public Hospital; Queen Elizabeth II Family Centre; and Clare Holland House;
– Call for appointments from a range of members (to a maximum of ten members) with [...]

Katy Gallagher has announced she’s released a discussion paper on plans for expanding Canberra’s hospitals:
“As part of the rebuild of our public health system, currently underway, we need to increase our bed capacity by a minimum of 400 beds. This involves a significant expansion of our health system and requires careful consideration of all available [...]

ARE YOU AGED 12 TO 25 YEARS AND LIVING IN THE ACT?
Have your say!
Jump online for 5-10 minutes to complete
THE ACT HEALTHY YOUNG PEOPLE SURVEY
and help improve health information and help for people aged 12-25 years in the ACT.
GO TO THE SURVEY
Tell us about the health issues that are important to you!
Complete the survey at [...]

Katy Gallagher has announced the opening of the ACT Health Village Creek Centre in Kambah.
Apparently this brings together the following services:
– ACT Equipment Scheme- provides access to a range ofequipment for eligible Canberrans. The scheme assists people with long term illness or disabilities to live safely at home in the community
– ACT Equipment Loan Service- [...]

As a personal trainer the number one question I get asked is ‘how can I lose weight?’
Australians are now one of the fattest counties in the world and yes Canberrens waist lines are increasing too; the latest comprehensive obesity study has shown that 25 per cent of adult Australians – almost five million – are [...]

Hi
Does anyone know anything about (or have tried) the Anytime Fitness Gyms opening in Canberra? I am particularly interested in the one that is supposedly ‘coming soon’  in Spence. I have tried phoning the centres in Woden and Tuggeranong to get more information but the phone is never answered and the website is pretty useless.
I’m [...]

I was just told about this petition displayed on the wall of the doctor’s surgery with the doctor’s signature as the signature listed at the top of the list.  Make your own judgement as to what it means.  Of course the discrimination is not direct, so I suspect, the doctor probably can’t [...]

Katy Gallagher has pushed out one of the most badly written media releases I’ve seen in a long time about “the new Centre for Research and Action in Public Health (CeRAPH) at the University of Canberra.”
“The Centre for Research and Action in Public Health will increase capacity to tackle some of the most important [...]

I had the misfortune of having to go to Canberra Hospital Emergency on Wednesday with my Father and endure a  5 1/2 hour wait before seeing a doctor.
We sat patiently without complaining or questioning the staff as I have sympathy for the predicament they find themselves in. During the wait I was amazed at the [...]

Is it just me or do others think it’s unreasonable to blame anyone other than the man who suicided in Calvary’s private psychiatric ward for his death?
Yes, he had his assessed risk category down-graded the day before…but he laughed at the treating psychiatrist (a locum) and said he wouldn’t kill himself (and requested to walk [...]

A leading Australian Paediatrician today launched a new radio campaign and a printed resource that encourages parents to worry less about being perfect, but instead to have fun, cuddle their babies, make eye contact, sleep near-by, and even to learn infant massage.
Associate Professor Graham Reynolds, who is the Director of Paediatric Research at the Canberra [...]

The ABC brings the irritating tale of Dr Paul Miniter who’s arguing the toss on a selection process he dipped out on.
My personal rule of thumb is that people who start getting arsey about selection processes are the last people you’d ever want to work with.
Two orthopaedic surgeons who were given contracts to work as [...]