HOSPITAL EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS

Mrs VLAHOS (Taylor) (16:46): My question is to the Minister for Health. How will the introduction of a four hour emergency department target help to improve patient care in South Australia?

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Southern Suburbs, Minister Assisting the Premier in the Arts) (16:46): I thank the member for Taylor and congratulate her on her election to this place and her first question. During the election campaign the Labor Party committed $109 million if we were elected—which we have been—to ensure that by June 2013 at least 95 per cent of people seeking treatment in our public hospital emergency departments would be treated and either admitted to a ward or discharged within four hours. I am pleased to say that that four hour emergency department target has now been adopted as a national target through the COAG health reform process. It will be fully operational right across Australia by 1 January 2015.

The benchmark of a four hour maximum is a simple tool that patients and staff can use to keep—

Dr McFetridge interjecting:

The Hon. J.D. HILL: He is ready for a debate now, but he will have to wait for a time.

Dr McFetridge interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the member for Morphett! The minister.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I know the rule is that I should not respond to inane interjections. The benchmark of a four hour—

Dr McFetridge interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Morphett! It is the first day.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: The benchmark of a four hour maximum is a simple tool that both patients and staff can use to keep the South Australian hospital system and the government accountable. An essential aspect of the policy is that progress will be tracked and the results will be made available publicly on the department's internet site.

The Labor Party was only in a position to make this commitment at the last election because of the work we have undertaken over our previous two terms in government to reform and rebuild the health system. Over our first two terms we increased the capacity of our health system by investing billions of extra dollars in building new health infrastructure. For example, since 2002 we have employed an additional 1,074 doctors, 3,692 nurses and 931 allied health workers. Our four hour target is, of course, a very ambitious one. Across Australia the average time spent in an emergency department by patients who are subsequently admitted to hospital (that is, the average time right across Australia) is six hours and two minutes. In South Australia that figure is five hours and 44 minutes. Not only are we below the national average but it is the lowest of any state or territory.

While we are ahead of the game on that figure, we have a long way to go to achieve a four hour target. Over the last two completed financial years, 61.7 per cent and 59 per cent of emergency department presentations had a total visit time of less than four hours. So, we are about two-thirds of the way to reaching that target. It will be difficult, but achieving the target will require building on current initiatives to increase capacity within our hospital system and further reduce demand; and, if I may, I will outline to the house how we will go about doing that.

Capacity across the hospital system will be increased by over 250 beds through the current set of capital works. An extra $3.5 million each year will be provided to help patients with disabilities move from hospitals to access accommodation in the community. On any given day there are up to 35 patients with disabilities who have recovered from their illness and should be discharged from hospital but there is nowhere appropriate for them to go to continue getting care, and so we keep them in hospital beds until those places become available.

I can advise the house that $3.5 million extra will create extra spaces, and $2.5 million, too, will be made available to provide more services for treating patients with mental health problems. We will also be establishing acute medical units at Modbury Hospital and the Lyell McEwin Hospital and we will be expanding the unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital—this is in addition to the two units we already have at Flinders and the Royal Adelaide Hospital. We will also employ more than 100 additional doctors, nurses and other staff across metro hospitals and, in particular, this includes more senior staff after hours and more diagnostic services so that we can move towards having 24 hour, seven day a week decision making in the emergency departments, because if you have that in the emergency departments and other parts of the hospital you can move patients through more quickly and more safely.

We will also accelerate our programs to reduce demand on emergency departments by employing additional extended care paramedics to provide treatment to patients in their own homes, as well as an additional $5 million a year to increase the current range of home care packages to reduce emergency department attendances.

I was extremely surprised that the opposition health spokesperson opposed the four hour target and dismissed it as a 'farce'. In South Australia the policy was developed in conjunction with the SA Health Emergency Access Task Force, which includes representatives from the Australian Medical Association, the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation and representatives of all the emergency departments in Adelaide, as well as other doctors and other medical experts.

The four hour policy (the same policy) has dramatically decreased waiting times in United Kingdom emergency departments, and here in Australia the Western Australian Liberal government introduced the same initiative last year and recently hailed its progress. The way they are reaching these goals is by going through the same measures that we are going to go through here in South Australia. In fact, my colleague and friend, the Western Australian health minister, Kim Hames, said on 17 April this year:

Waiting times in Western Australia's major emergency departments are now among Australia's best, and patients safety and quality of care have been maintained since the program began.

We are very pleased to be following in that direction and following what the Western Australian Liberal Party thought was a good idea. It is a shame that the South Australian Liberal Party does not share that point of view.