The ACT Government has denied that Canberra Health Services (CHS) is outsourcing staff and services for the Fetal Medicine Unit at Canberra Hospital, as the Canberra Liberals and the Commonwealth and Public Sector Union (CPSU) claim.
The specialists and sonographers they seek would be offered temporary contracts for a year, the government states.
“It is simply untrue that Canberra Hospital’s Fetal Medicine Unit is being outsourced,” health minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said.
Both the opposition and the union were up in arms yesterday that CHS had requested private providers to supply one maternal foetal medicine specialist and / or an obstetric and gynaecological ultrasound specialist and three sonographers. According to the Liberals, the ACT Government had advertised for the positions since June 2022, but not been able to fill them, because the unit had a poor reputation.
CHS stated that the request for proposals was “seeking options to temporarily fill some positions and not to outsource the operation of the Fetal Medicine Unit”.
“The request for proposals process is to seek one or more Contractors to provide suitably qualified and experienced clinicians to temporarily deliver ultrasound services,” a spokesperson said. “This includes triaging of patient referrals, procedures, scanning and reporting, as well as training within the Fetal Medicine Unit.”
The contract would initially be for 12 months, and extended for another year if CHS decided this was “the right option for continued provision of the service”.
“The clinical contractors, if appointed, would work with and complement the existing experienced, quality staff within the Fetal Medicine Unit,” the spokesperson said.
CHS would continue recruitment to permanently fill these vacant positions. “These efforts would not reduce during the contract term of a contract if it is entered into.”
CHS reassured staff that their jobs were safe. “No CHS employees will lose employment or require reemployment by the contractor. Any contractors engaged through this tender process will complement existing staff in the unit. In addition, the training provided by the Contractor is designed to upskill existing staff that will help meet training requirements into the future.”
“No existing jobs [in the FMU] are being outsourced,” Ms Stephen-Smith said. “The current tender is about bolstering capacity and supporting [staff] to do their important work.”
Ms Stephen-Smith rejected the Liberals’ claim that the FMU had a poor work culture.
“Earlier this week, I met with the President of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists,” the minister said.
“The College expressed no concern about the safety of the Maternal Fetal Medicine service at Canberra Hospital, and acknowledged the difficulty in establishing and sustaining this highly specialised service due to the small number of sub-specialists nationally.”
