SA AMBULANCE SERVICE

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health, Minister for the Southern Suburbs, Minister Assisting the Premier in the Arts) (15:11): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: Like all aspects of our health care system, the SA Ambulance Service is facing increasing demands for its services. In fact, the demand for ambulance services in South Australia is expected to grow by approximately 10 per cent per annum over the next five years. In order to meet this growing demand, the SA Ambulance Service is currently developing a long-term strategic plan to ensure that South Australians continue to receive world-class paramedic care. New initiatives being examined include:

a new ambulance dispatch system to deliver improved response times;

the introduction of different ambulance resources, such as single response vehicles, which will provide backup for emergency crews; and

increasing support to country communities with additional resources in seasonal populated areas and mining locations.

These reforms will focus on improving response times and ensuring an appropriate level of response to individual incidents. Further, we are aiming to increase the level of care that ambulance officers can deliver on site without the need to always transport patients to hospital emergency departments. This will be achieved by introducing clinical advisers to the emergency operations centre and introducing specific training programs to further enhance our paramedics' capacity to provide a first and final point of medical care, where appropriate.

Developing better out-of-hospital care in order to minimise unnecessary emergency department presentations is consistent with the broader health care reform philosophies outlined in the South Australian Health Care Plan. The emphasis on improving and expanding primary health care is shared by our federal colleagues.

Extensive consultation on these reforms has been undertaken with SA Ambulance Service staff, the Ambulance Employees Association, senior management and the Ambulance Board over the past 12 months. Further, it is hoped that these reforms will improve career pathways and opportunities for South Australia's ambulance officers. Ultimately, all reform of the SA Ambulance Service is about getting the right resources to the right patient in the right amount of time to enable the most efficient use of resources.