Shadow Minister for Health Leanne Castley will today call on the Minister to provide more transparency regarding the loss of training accreditation at the Fetal and Maternal Medicine Unit.

Ms Castley will move a motion in the assembly calling on the Minister to provide documents to update the Assembly and public with exactly what is going on in the Maternal and Fetal Medicine Unit.

The unit lost its training accreditation on the 31^st August after there were a lack of staff to provide specialist training in addition to performing their regular duties.

“There is a lack of transparency around why CHS have been unable to hire staff for almost 8 months and how many staff have applied,” Ms Castley said.

“The Minister has made no mention of any report that the college provided to CHS about the suspension of training accreditation and a lack of consistent numbers about the extent of staff leaving, reducing their hours or on leave since the 31^st of August.

“Since I started asking questions about the unit on the 3^rd of August 2022 the Minister has not been able to answer 8 out of the 12 questions I asked.

“This is a chance for the Minister to come clean to Canberrans so we can understand what is going on in this crucial department for women with complex pregnancies.”

“It is disgraceful that junior doctors have had to move from our tertiary hospital to complete training because CHS have been unable to hire staff for almost 8 months.”

Canberra Health Services have been advertising for the position since June 2022 and have not been able to fill the position. During question time the Minister confirmed that only remaining specialist was in talks with Canberra Hospital “about the extent to which they want to continue working in the unit.”

Shadow Minister for Health, Leanne Castley said that it is extremely concerning that the unit is in danger of losing another specialist and unable to recruit staff for almost 8 months.

“We know that the Division of Women, Youth and Children has serious cultural problems and this is having an impact on attracting staff to CHS,” Ms Castley said.

“The December pulse survey showed that compared to other Women’s, Maternity and Newborn Services, CHS reported 10 out of 12 questions that were below the norm. This was consistent with the statistically valid June 2021 pulse survey results, where 11 out of 13 questions rated below average.

“The Minister needs to do everything she can to retain junior doctors, as this has been going on for almost 8 months it is another example of her lack of action,” Ms Castley concluded.