Ministerial Statement

FLINDERS MEDICAL CENTRE

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Ageing, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts) (14:08): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: As a result of the public's concerns about ongoing instances of delays in ambulance turnaround times at Flinders Medical Centre, the Chief Executive of SA Health, at my request, has appointed an emergency department expert from Western Australia to undertake an independent review of patient access—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: —procedures at Flinders Medical Centre. Dr Mark Monaghan, one of Australia's leading emergency physicians, will be assisted by an independent team comprising an inpatient care physician, an emergency department director and the Deputy Commissioner of the ACT Ambulance Service. Dr Monaghan is the Co-Director at Fremantle Hospital in Western Australia and is part of an expert panel which provides advice to the commonwealth government on emergency department and elective surgery strategies.

There will be a specific focus on resolving issues associated with the hospital's emergency department and ambulance delays. The review will also examine inpatient access across the hospital to ensure that those patients who need to be admitted receive timely access to beds. We understand that this is not just about the emergency department but the whole hospital.

Dr Monaghan's team will work with all parties involved in ambulance, emergency department and inpatient care to review any potential procedural, cultural or other issues that are impacting on decision-making and patient flow. The review team will also provide advice on new initiatives that could be introduced to improve access and reduce the impact of delays. The team will report back in early July 2012.

There have been significant investments at Flinders Medical Centre to expand the emergency department ($23.8 million) and improve the flow of patients. Major redevelopment works are now complete and have provided space to care for 10,000 more patients each year (up to 70,000 patients), including an extra 21 cubicles (now 51 up from 30). In addition, $5.7 million was invested to create a new 30-bed acute medical unit to provide faster specialist treatment for patients arriving at the emergency department. As well, there have been operational investments totalling more than $11 million over the past three years to support better patient flows.

SA Health figures show that 61,574 people were treated in the Flinders Medical Centre emergency department in 2000-11. That is more than 1,000 fewer people than the previous year. While there was an increase in presentations leading up to 2007-08, there has been a 2 per cent decline (down from 62,513 in 2007-08) since that time compared to a 6 per cent increase in presentations across the metropolitan area. Seventy-one per cent of presentations at Flinders Medical Centre were 'seen on time' (according to the triage categories) to February 2011-12 compared to the state average of 72 per cent.

Over the past decade, the number of doctors working at Flinders Medical Centre has nearly doubled to 630, along with a 65 per cent increase in nurses and midwives and a 110 per cent increase in allied health and scientific professionals. I would like to commend doctors, nurses and all the others who work within the emergency department and the wider hospital, as well as our ambulance officers who work hard in sometimes very demanding circumstances to ensure appropriate care for South Australians. Emergency departments, as I am sure all members and the public would understand, can be very busy places at times and the presentation of patients is by its very nature unpredictable.

I also acknowledge Dr Di King who resigned her position as clinical director of Flinders Medical Centre's emergency department on Thursday 10 May. Dr King has overseen the hospital's emergency department since 1999 and has also provided strategic direction for emergency services in the southern region. I wish to thank Dr King for her leadership and contribution to the southern area local health network and particularly for overseeing the redevelopment of the ED.