GP PLUS HEALTH CARE CENTRES

Mr SIBBONS (Mitchell) (14:33): My question—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr SIBBONS: My question is also to the Minister for Health. What services will be offered at the new GP Plus health care centres, and how will this help people stay fit and healthy and avoid hospital visits?

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) (14:34): I thank the member for Mitchell for his question. This is a very good segue from the questions asked by the opposition, because they asked what we are doing about it.

One of the great commitments that we have is to increase the amount of out-of-hospital care. The advice to us by the Generational Health Review was to create greater capacity for primary health care, prevention and chronic disease management so that fewer people need to go to the emergency departments of our hospitals.

We know that as our population ages it will require more health care. As a result of that, of course, the costs of running the health service continue to increase. As part of the response to this challenge, the government is changing how health care is delivered to make sure that we have a sustainable system for the future. That involves not only building up our hospital infrastructure but it also involves building up infrastructure around the primary health care area.

We have had some success in slowing the growth in hospital demand. In 2006-07, the financial year before the release of our Health Care Plan, the growth in separations—which is a technical term to describe the patients who move through the system—in metropolitan Adelaide was 4.6 per cent. So in the year '06-07 we had a 4.6 per cent growth in hospital separations. Last financial year, that had declined to 1.9 per cent, and this year, to the end of April (we do not have the later figures) it was down to 0.1 per cent, hardly any growth at all in the separations. That is a major achievement.

In contrast, we have seen quite strong growth in the country, and that is also a major achievement. We have had a 3.3 per cent growth in separations to date this year on the back of a 4.4 per cent growth last year. That is because we are able to use the capacity in the country. The percentage of beds being used is about 50 per cent across all of country, so there is the capacity there. If we can use that capacity by having more patients looked after in country communities then fewer people come to the city.

The GP Plus health care network is also a key part of this reform process. These centres will offer a range of health services close to where people live and help ease pressure on busy hospital emergency departments by treating non-urgent conditions such as colds and flus and so on. Smaller GP Plus health care centres have been operating at Aldinga and Woodville for some time now and they have been very welcome additions to the services available in those communities.

In conjunction with the commonwealth government, we are also building GP Plus super clinics at Modbury and Noarlunga and the country centres are being built at Ceduna and Port Pirie. In 2011-12, with the completed major centres at Elizabeth and Marion, the projected number of appointments at all of the GP Plus health care centres is expected to top 205,000. That is a tenfold increase on the current financial year: 205,000 extra patient visits that will be able to be accommodated. These appointments will be provided in brand new purpose-built facilities in major population centres and will have a big impact, we believe, on hospital demand.

This coming Saturday, we will celebrate the official opening of the GP Plus health care centre at Marion and the state's first community mental health care centre as well. These important collocated developments open the door to a new level of health care in Adelaide's inner southern suburbs. Under the one roof people can access allied health professionals, dentists and community health staff to help manage their health conditions and to help them stay healthy and out of hospital.

The centre is located adjacent to the spectacular new aquatic centre, which has also just opened to the public. The new GP Plus health care centre and community mental health building is about 7,500 square metres and is built over four levels. I commend both of these new centres, the Elizabeth one and the Marion one, to the house and I would invite all members to inspect them; we could arrange visits, if you would like.

Services offered at the GP Plus include dental services, drug and alcohol counselling, allied health services such as podiatry, physiotherapy, nutrition and psychology, early childhood development therapy, including speech pathology and occupational therapy and health assessment, including self-management programs, particularly for people with chronic health conditions. We know that people who have chronic illnesses (generally older people, but not always) are likely to have lots of hospital visits.

Importantly, the centre will also have a focus on teaching, education and development of the health workforce. The centre will work in conjunction with the adjacent Marion Domain Medical Centre, which provides general practice services for extended hours seven days a week. I am very pleased that the Domain Centre has again started bulk-billing, which is great news for people in that community.

The new Elizabeth GP Plus health care centre held an open day last Sunday for members of the community, and a number of local members were there to be a part of that. Members of the community were given free health checks and tours of that impressive new facility. An estimated 750 locals took the opportunity to inspect the new centre and learn about the services that it provided.

I am also delighted that our first community mental health centre has opened at the Marion site. We are developing six new community mental health centres across metropolitan Adelaide as part of our Stepping Up mental health reforms to provide different steps of care for people as they suffer setbacks in their health. That centre will provide a range of public mental health services which are essential in assisting people with mental health issues to continue to live, work and contribute as active members of their community.

Like GP Plus centres, community mental health centres are about offering non-emergency treatment and health care in locations that are more appropriate than hospitals. The other five mental health centres will be located in the outer southern suburbs, eastern suburbs, inner north, outer north and western suburbs. Together, the new GP Plus health centre at Marion and inner southern community mental health centre will care for the physical and mental health of local residents for many years to come. These centres—a big investment by government into public health—are part of our strategy to make sure that we have a sustainable health system.

I would not pretend for a moment that we have solved all the problems. There are many issues that need to be dealt with: extra capacity in hospitals, extra capacity out of hospitals, encouraging people to look after their own health, a whole range of things. All of these things have to be addressed at once, but I am very proud of the work that this government has done, and we will keep doing this kind of work to make sure that our system is sustainable for our children and their children.