Mr. Bernard Gloster:

The acute psychiatric unit the Senator spoke about is run by the community service rather than the hospital. The mental health service now has one of the pay numbers we spoke about, as does the entire mid-west, and it has to work and manage within it. The Senator is correct that short-term absences would normally be covered by agency workers. I do not know the specifics of that case, but the issue in mental health nursing is usually to do with availability rather than money or approval. Mental health nursing is a profession in very high-demand.

The one thing I will say about an inpatient waiting for a physiotherapist in such an acute psychiatric unit - again I do not know the circumstances - is against us. I am shocked when I hear those things, because with the number of physiotherapists and occupational therapists in whom we have invested in the country and the mid-west in recent years, it should not be the case that someone we are caring for 24 hours a day cannot access that type of healthcare. There are traditional boundaries that mean primary healthcare physicians will not go into inpatient units. Frankly, however, that is unsustainable. I will certainly pursue that matter. On the broader issue, it should not be occurring.