SA AMBULANCE SERVICE

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health, Minister for the Southern Suburbs, Minister Assisting the Premier in the Arts) (15:09): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: I am pleased to announce that the incoming chief executive of the South Australian Ambulance Service has been selected. Following a comprehensive recruitment process (which included an exhaustive national and international executive search), Mr Ray Creen will commence in the role in July this year.

A paramedic since 1985, Mr Creen's previous role as Director of Patient Services with Kent Ambulance Service saw him move the service from the third worst performing in England to the fourth highest performing in just two years. Mr Creen arrived from the UK to take up the position of Deputy Chief Executive and Director of State Operations for SA Ambulance Service in 2005.

In that time, Mr Creen has been instrumental in instigating new initiatives to ensure that the state's ambulance service continues to improve its service to the South Australian community. Mr Creen has demonstrated that he has the vision and capability to move SA Ambulance Service forward to a new level that will not only enhance the performance of the service but will also contribute to meeting the challenge faced by the health service generally.

I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the significant contribution of the outgoing chief executive, Mr Chris Lemmer, over the past 40 years. Chris started as a volunteer ambulance officer at Elizabeth in 1968 and commenced full-time employment with the ambulance service, then St John, in 1975 as an assistant accountant.

Mr Lemmer has undertaken a variety of administrative and operational roles at SA Ambulance Service. Amongst his many achievements in that time, the amalgamation of 64 independent country ambulance services into a single state ambulance service in the early 1980s stands out as testimony to his managerial and people skills.

In 2002, Mr Lemmer was appointed chief executive of SAAS and has built and developed a talented, effective and professional team that is strategically focused and well positioned to meet future challenges. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr Lemmer for his contribution to the SA Ambulance Service and wish him the best of luck in the next phase of his life. I also offer my congratulations to Mr Creen and look forward to working closely with him on continuing to enhance the state ambulance service.