A gynaecological cancer surgeon has been employed by Canberra Health Services as a visiting medical officer, Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith has announced.
Canberra Hospital will also continue a fly-in, fly-out arrangement with a Sydney hospital to provide surgeries in the nation's capital.
The ACT government committed to establishing a permanent service last year following sustained pressure from doctors, nurses and patients.
Health authorities advertised for a surgeon and only received one application, which was from Dr Leon Foster. However, Canberra Health Services refused to immediately expand the service and only offered Dr Foster two half days of surgeries a month and he had to reject the offer.
This was despite the Royal Hospital for Women in Sydney spending 149 hours operating on Canberra women with gynaecological cancers in a four-month period. This was in addition to 40 hours of operation time at Canberra Hospital.
But the government has now employed Dr Foster on a locum basis, who will provide surgeries in Canberra.
"This will allow patients with more complex cases to have their operation locally rather than travelling interstate," Ms Stephen-Smith said.
Canberra has never had its own public permanent gynaecological cancer surgery service. The Royal Hospital for Women has provided a fly-in, fly-out service for nearly three decades. But doctors pushed for a permanent service in the capital as demand for surgeries had increased over recent years and continuing a temporary service would present an "ongoing clinical risk".
Ms Stephen-Smith also provided an update on work the government was doing in relation to maternity services in the territory, saying the ACT wanted a nation-leading system.
"The ACT government is committed to providing a world class health system, and leading Australia with the best public maternity system," she told the Legislative Assembly.
Ms Stephen-Smith acknowledged the challenges facing the maternity workforce but the speech did not explicitly mention training accreditation being at risk in the women's and children's hospital.
"As the Assembly is aware, the maternity workforce both nationally and locally has been under significant strain, with the last few years being extremely challenging for maternity services as well as the broader health services," she said.
Ms Stephen-Smith pointed to work underway in the government's 10-year maternity system plan, a $12 million investment in the budget around maternity services, $8.5 million to support a junior doctor workforce and work to implement midwifery to patient ratios.
Opposition health spokeswoman Leanne Castley said staff in the maternity unit have been neglected by the government. She pointed to a letter from senior midwives who warned of "critical shortcomings" and staffing shortages which resulted in a nearly month-long "code yellow" internal emergency.
"It is disgraceful that the Minister is once again trying to spin that she has been dedicated to this issue when in fact the opposite is true," Ms Castley said.
"The Health Minister needs to listen to patients, stakeholders and staff and start improving the workplace conditions, retaining frontline staff and recruiting more so that our frontline staff are able to care for our patients without having to wok double shifts sometimes without breaks."
