PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE: MOUNT GAMBIER AND DISTRICT HEALTH SERVICE REDEVELOPMENT

Mr ODENWALDER (Little Para) (11:40): I move:

That the 459^th report of the committee, on the Mount Gambier and District Health Service Redevelopment, be noted.

The Mount Gambier and District Health Service Redevelopment will achieve a new 22-bed ward inclusive of a mental health unit, an upgraded emergency department, an additional eight consulting and treatment rooms, new staff office accommodation and medical records facilities, an addition of four new chairs to the dental service, and the relocation of the day centre to the city centre providing community access. The total budget for this project is $26.7 million.

This redevelopment is intended to provide community primary health care and inpatient/outpatient facilities resulting in higher quality facilities; primary health services delivered in a more efficient and effective manner; the capacity to provide appropriate mental health services and increased capability to attract and retain health professionals.

This project is expected to begin construction this December and be completed by December 2014. Given this, and pursuant to the act, the Public Works Committee reports to parliament that it recommends this work.

Mr PEGLER (Mount Gambier) (11:41): I came into this place on a platform of gaining improved health services, particularly mental health services, for Mount Gambier, and this $26.7 million spend on the Mount Gambier Hospital is certainly going to go a long way to achieving those goals, and the new ambulance station that was approved not long ago will also help a lot.

With the new mental health unit, I do not think people appreciate the problems we face in Mount Gambier sometimes when, if people are having an episode, and they are detained whether it is voluntarily or involuntarily, they can only hold them in Mount Gambier for 24 hours. They then have to be chemically restrained and flown through to Adelaide because of the distance we are from Adelaide, and then they are away from their family and friends at a time when they probably need them more than ever.

With this new build those people will be able to be held for seven days, and often within that time they will get better and they will be able to step down into other mental health care within the community rather than being sent through to here. The emergency ward is going to be more than doubled which will make a hell of a difference for the people of Mount Gambier. It is not necessarily going to take a lot more staff but it will run a lot more smoothly because, at the moment, often with only a handful of beds that we have there, you end up with bottlenecks because people cannot flow through in a proper manner until they are admitted.

The dental health service, going from six chairs to ten, will certainly reduce the waiting time for those people and, of course, there will also be improved oncology services, which will help a lot of our people to have those services in Mount Gambier rather than have to come up to Adelaide for them.

On behalf of the people of Mount Gambier, I would like to thank the state government for lobbying the federal government for this $26.7 million, and it is going to go a long way to help with the problems that we have. I would also particularly like to thank the Public Works Committee and both the member for Waite and the member for Little Para in consulting with me prior to this going to the committee. I indicated to them that I thought it was extremely important for Mount Gambier, and I would like to thank the Public Works Committee for dealing with the matter in a timely manner. Thanks to one and all.

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite) (11:44): I signal that the opposition fully supports this project and note the member for Mount Gambier's support and remarks in relation to it. As he knows better than anyone else in the chamber, this is a very important project for the people of the South-East, and I commend him for championing the cause. I have been down to this hospital on numerous occasions. I have had relatives pass away in this hospital. I have a branch of my family in Mount Gambier, having spent a lot of time there as a youth.

It is a very important investment. This hospital is one of the key regional hospitals in the state. I am extremely impressed with the way that it is being run by the nurses, doctors and management. If only they could get the bureaucracy out of their hair, they could probably get more done, but they are so burdened by Country Health SA, which frequently gets in their way, that it makes their job difficult.

I think there are some real issues in Mount Gambier that need help. The emergency department down there certainly will benefit from this upgrade. There have been real problems with waiting times at the ED. I still have concerns about the dialysis capability at the hospital, which sadly is not part of the rebuild. There are issues still with car parking. There are issues still with quite a number of needs at the hospital that require attention.

I also remind the house that nurses at the hospital are very concerned about staffing arrangements and the way that the department, the government and the minister are running nurse rostering. There have been protests down there about unsafe staffing levels and a whole host of other things, which just reminds us that it is the people who run the hospital, it is not just the bricks and mortar, welcome though this investment is.

I think we need to note that the commonwealth needs the pat on the back for this money, not the state government, though, of course, it will be opened in December 2014. How convenient for the government, with the election a few months later. Nevertheless, it is happening. It is one, as members will be well aware, of four general hospitals to be invested in around the state: Mount Gambier, Berri, Whyalla and Port Lincoln. Of course, the investment in those general hospitals is welcome.

The opposition is very frustrated that we have not yet seen the proposal to Public Works for the Port Lincoln general hospital upgrade, which should have come to us by now but which has not yet done so. I am very keen to see Whyalla as well, which is also off in the wings somewhere. Berri, as members will be aware, had its budget trimmed. We all must remember that with this investment we must be vigilant to ensure that other country hospitals across the state are not degraded in order to pay.

Hanging over all our country hospitals, like the sword of Damocles, is the hospital we never needed down in the rail yards, which is going to cost $13 billion over its lifetime, around $400 million a year, out of a health budget that is already $125 million in the red. The minister confirmed just yesterday in parliament that tracking for this year was similar to last year. One can only conclude from those comments that we are going to be $125 million overspent this year as well. I fear for that because it means that we will be not only overspent but also nowhere near the savings tasks Health needs to achieve in order to get the books back into balance.

Again, that presents risks to country hospitals because, as Labor has to feed, like a hungry animal, this hospital they are building that we never needed in the rail yards, where is the money going to come from? I have real concerns that it will come from the primary healthcare network, including our country health network. That cannot happen and will not happen as long as the Liberal Party stands on two feet. People need that support where they live and work.

Having said that, we support this project. It is a good project. The sooner we get the building underway, the better, and we would like to see more of it.

Motion carried.