Question Time

EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:03): My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing. Why, after 10 years of Labor and seven years under his leadership, are emergency departments in our major metropolitan hospitals unable to treat emergency and urgent casualties within nationally agreed safety time frames?

COAG figures show that of emergency cases required to be seen within 10 minutes across the Adelaide health service almost one in four is not being seen on time. Of urgent cases required to be seen within 30 minutes, more than one in three is not being seen on time. At the Lyell McEwin Hospital almost half of the urgent cases presenting at the emergency department are not being seen on time. South Australia has been confirmed as the worst-performing state in the country on emergency department waiting times.

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Ageing, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts) (14:04): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for her question and I would point out at the very beginning that her comment—the obiter dicta at the end—is completely and absolutely untrue and totally incorrect.

Mr Hamilton-Smith interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: She did not say that, member for Waite; she did not say that. Now that I have been asked this question, Madam Speaker, let me go—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Waite, behave.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: Let me go through the facts. As the minister for six and a bit years—not the seven she described—I am very proud of the progress that we have made in our hospital system. We have a high quality healthcare system in our state, and it has improved over the time that I have been responsible for it.

Let me tell you, in terms of the median wait time in our emergency departments, up to January this year the median wait time (the time in which 50 per cent of the people were seen) was 19 minutes for 50 per cent of people to be seen. So, 50 per cent of the people who turn up at the emergency department were seen in 19 minutes. Back in 2007-08 it was 29 minutes; so we have made a 10 minute improvement across the board through our emergency departments and there has been improvement every year.

The point at which 90 per cent of patients at emergency departments have been seen was 104 minutes—the very best in Australia, not the worst in Australia, the very best in Australia; 90 per cent of people who go to the emergency departments are seen within 104 minutes—the very best outcome in Australia. This other side—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: —spins all the time when it comes to health.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: They have got nothing positive to say. All they can do is invent criticism and run down the very fine, high quality system we have in our state, which treats thousands and thousands of patients every single day. All they can do is mock, Madam Speaker.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: When it comes to people seen on time, the percentage of people seen in emergency departments, in terms of all of the categories, 72 per cent were seen on time as of January this year. Back in 2007-08, which was just after I became minister, 61 per cent of people were seen on time, according to the triage categories. It is an 11 per cent improvement under my tenure. When we go to triage categories, 100 per cent of South Australians who were in the immediate category were seen on time—and you would hope for that to be the case—and it is 100 per cent nationally, so we are absolutely spot on.

There are five categories: resuscitation, emergency, urgent, semi-urgent, non-urgent. When it comes to emergency, the second category, the critical time is 10 minutes; 78 per cent of South Australians were seen on time, 79 per cent nationally, so it is about the same nationally. When it comes to urgent (that is 30 minutes), 66 per cent of South Australians were seen on time; nationally it is 65 per cent, so once again just on average.

When it comes to semi-urgent, 60 minutes is the category; 70 per cent of South Australian patients were seen on time, 68 percent nationally, so we are ahead there. When it comes to non-urgent (within 120 minutes), 88 per cent of South Australian patients were seen on time; nationally it is 88 percent. Overall, 71 per cent of our patients are seen on time in the emergency department compared to 70 per cent nationally. Now, is that good enough? No; we want to do better. We want to have a perfect system, but you cannot go to a perfect system overnight. It does take progress and it takes big investments—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: I can tell you, Madam Speaker, that this government has been committed—completely committed—to improving our healthcare system. We have invested heavily in doctors, heavily in nurses, heavily in reforms of our emergency department. I am sick and tired, as I am sure most patients are in South Australia, of the constant whingeing, negative criticism by the opposition—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: —which has nothing positive to say about health; in fact, it has nothing positive to say about anything, including themselves.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Light.