"I want to make it absolutely clear that the job of the NSW government is to ensure that we have confidence in the public health system ... that if you go to an emergency department you'll be treated with world class care by somebody who will look after you. And there can be no tolerance for this."
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TVTranscript
00:00I want to make it absolutely clear that the job of the NSW Government is to ensure that
00:04we have confidence in the public health system in NSW, that if you go to an emergency department
00:10you'll be treated with world-class care by somebody who will look after you.
00:15And there can be no tolerance for this.
00:17It's hugely important that the public has trust in healthcare professionals across our
00:22public health system.
00:23We cannot have examples of naked racism from public servants exhibited on social media
00:30or anywhere.
00:31It is just too destructive to the edifice of public health in NSW.
00:37We had to take immediate and decisive action.
00:39That's exactly what the Minister for Health and the Secretary of Health are doing.
00:43Look, it'll be a comprehensive review.
00:45Don't forget we've got the Healthcare Complaints Commission as well.
00:48Their job is to look at these particular instances.
00:51We'll task them with that job if they need extra resources, we'll put resources into
00:55it as well.
00:56I do think it's important, however, to say that, and this has been my personal experience
01:02both as a patient in public health, as the Premier of NSW, as the Leader of the Opposition
01:07during the COVID emergency, and that is that the vast, vast majority of people that work
01:13in our public hospitals – doctors, nurses, orderlies, paramedics – care passionately
01:19about people who live in this state, want to provide a world-class service, and are
01:23in healthcare because they care about strangers.
01:27They have that gene in them.
01:29The best traditions of public service.
01:32And it's my strong belief that this is an aberration.
01:34I can't promise that every single healthcare worker doesn't harbour the same hate or the
01:39same views, but what I can say is that the evidence is that it's a small, small fraction.
01:44And it's my job to build up public confidence in the public health system so that if you
01:49have got a pain, if you have got a concern, if there's a warning sign that blinks this
01:53afternoon, that you've got the confidence to go to an emergency department and know
01:57that you'll get world-class treatment.