Canberrans should have been told about Garran Surge Centre concerns

Our lives were completely upended to ensure we stopped the spread of a deadly virus before there was any vaccine to curb its effects.

But in return it was expected our governments would be upfront with us. If mistakes were made or something didn't turn out as expected, it was only right that authorities let the public know.

At the start of the pandemic the ACT government made the extraordinary decision to build a temporary COVID emergency department on Garran Oval.

There were terrifying scenes overseas where tents were being hurriedly erected to serve as makeshift hospitals. This was enough to send shivers down the spines of health authorities.

The ACT government saw these scenes and thought desperate action was needed especially given Canberra's well-documented emergency department woes.

However, we have since learnt that the Garran Surge Centre was not suitable for treating infectious COVID patients as there were concerns about ventilation and airflow.

These concerns were raised more than a year after the centre was built when much more was known about the spread of the virus.

The centre was built at a time when little was known about the spread of COVID - in fact, the virus was largely thought to be spread via droplets.

Authorities could be forgiven for building a centre that was not entirely appropriate, especially in the context of a virus threatening the lives of millions and in such a short timeframe.

In times of crisis perfect shouldn't be the enemy of the good.

But authorities cannot be forgiven for not being upfront about why the Garran Surge Centre could not be used for its intended purpose, more than a year after it was completed and with time that could have been used to upgrade it.

When authorities received a report in late-2021 which said: "the facility is generally not suitable for treatment of COVID-19 infected patients as it is", the public should have been told.

Credibility and trust come from being honest and open with people. There seems to be a paternalistic attitude within the territory's health bureaucracy that they know best and will only tell us what they think we need to know.

Taxpayers paid $14 million for the centre.

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Not only should the public have been told but Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith should have been given this report.

Why was she never given this report? Is it because, as one official said it "will no doubt create some controversary [sic]".

The government has attempted to spectacularly defend the centre by saying the 2021 report was actually commissioned to understand if the centre could be used as a "revised model of care".

Apparently the centre, which was intended to have 50 beds including six resuscitation bays, was never meant to be a "ward area".

A "ward area" in this context is a place where inpatients stay overnight. The centre was designed to be an emergency department only.

But does this spin really stack up?

If so, does this mean emergency departments have lower standards around ventilation than "ward areas"?

And given bed block is a constant feature in Canberra's hospitals there was every likelihood people would have needed to stay longer in the Garran Surge Centre.

The government also has questions to answer about why it did not pursue upgrades recommended in the 2021 report.

These upgrades would have cost about $70,000. Authorities have said we never needed the surge centre so it was fine to not spend it.

But COVID was ravaging our health system during last year's winter. There was even an outbreak in a cancer ward at Canberra Hospital.

If the upgrades had happened could the centre have been used during this time?

There are so many questions and health authorities should have been upfront in the first place.

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