HEALTH SERVICES

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (14:37): My question is to the Minister for Health. How is the coordination of health services leading to better outcomes for patients, in particular, mothers in the north-eastern suburbs?

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health, Minister for the Southern Suburbs, Minister Assisting the Premier in the Arts) (14:37): I thank the member for Florey for her question and acknowledge what a strong advocate she is for health in her area, particularly for mothers.

We know that, as our population ages, the demands placed upon our public health service will increase. The government is therefore undertaking the major task of reforming our health system to ensure that it is sustainable into the future. An important part of this reform is improving efficiency by avoiding unnecessary duplication. That was one of the recommendations made to us by the Generational Health Review. For example, the coordination of birthing services between Modbury and Lyell McEwin hospitals has improved services for expectant mums in the northern area.

When we released South Australia's Health Care Plan, we knew that less than a quarter of women in the Modbury catchment were actually choosing to have their babies at the Modbury Hospital. Maintaining the service in the longer term was not sustainable. We therefore identified the Lyell McEwin as the major tertiary and maternity hospital for northern Adelaide.

The transfer of birthing services from Modbury to the Lyell McEwin and Women's and Children's hospitals occurred with the further expansion of the birthing facilities at the Lyell McEwin. I would like to just explain to the house what happened at the Lyell McEwin. At the Lyell McEwin, since we made those announcements, we have included an extra 26 midwives; eight additional doctors, including one extra senior obstetrics specialist and a senior neonatologist for critically ill newborns; five extra allied health staff, including social workers, pharmacists and a sonographer; three extra beds in the obstetrics unit; eight additional special care nursery cots; and a new antenatal assessment unit with eight additional beds.

The Lyell McEwin service provides acute care through to care in the home with the home-visiting midwives and the acclaimed Mother Carer Program, which is a first in Australia. I recommend to anybody in this place who is not aware of what is happening at the Lyell McEwin to have a look at this breakthrough way of helping mothers.

A new mum wrote to me recently highlighting the wide range of services offered by the Lyell McEwin birthing services. She praises the antenatal classes, the antenatal physiotherapy, the phone support service provided by the Women's Assessment Unit, midwives, the support provided by staff during the birth process and the post-natal care. Her letter said:

The best service has been the last—the Domiciliary Midwives...[The visits] provided us with more skills and confidence in caring for our son.

She concludes:

We could not have asked for better services, better people or a better experience in the care of our baby, both before he was born and since.

The Lyell McEwin Hospital continues to provide an outreach antenatal service at Modbury Hospital which offers mums-to-be and their families in the north-eastern suburbs all the care options available at the Lyell McEwin Hospital, including obstetric and maternity models of care. This service provides antenatal services closer to home with the advantage of linking into the birthing services and facilities at Lyell McEwin Hospital when the time comes to birth.

Since February 2008, 501 women from the Modbury area have chosen to birth at the Lyell McEwin Hospital. The feedback from these women and their families has been outstanding in terms of care options and standards and the physical environment of the hospital. I take this opportunity to praise the staff at those hospitals, led by Gus Dekker, who is in charge of obstetrics at the Lyell McEwin Hospital. It has an outstanding model of maternal care in this state, which is truly international in its perspective, and I know it is a model for many other health services both nationally and internationally. The staff at that hospital do a tremendous job and the service they are providing to the people of the northern suburbs is absolutely without par.