HAMPSTEAD REHABILITATION CENTRE

Mrs GERAGHTY (Torrens) (15:00): My question is to the Minister for Health. Can the minister update the house on the future of the hydrotherapy pool at Hampstead centre.

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Ageing, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts) (15:00): I thank the member for Torrens for—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Bragg, order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: I thank the member for her question and acknowledge her very strong interest in the Hampstead centre and the users of that centre and her strong advocacy for them. In relation to the hydrotherapy pool, I can advise the house that, only as recently as last week, it was announced that we are undertaking a six-month, $200,000 upgrade of the pool, which will include new chemical storage facilities, new non-slip tiles, walls painted, a safety bumper added to the walk-in ramp, areas around filter boxes reconfigured to reduce tripping hazards and shower facilities improved. I hope that gives a sign to both the member and to the community who access this pool that our intention is not, whatever happens, to close the pool down.

As members would know, I announced in October—on 9 October, in fact—that we would go through a process of consultation and discussion around rehabilitation centres in Adelaide. One of the options we are looking at is the combination of the rehab services that are currently at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, the Hampstead centre and St Margaret's.

Around the world and, of course, in Australia, the long-term trend has been to co-locate rehabilitation units on-site with acute services to allow for earlier initiation of rehabilitation. It also makes it easier for the patients who are in the rehab centre, and who are often there for months, who need to have diagnostic services provided to them or who have an illness which needs to be treated in the hospital and have to be transferred by ambulances now to be able to get that access much more quickly.

The Hampstead centre itself, of course, is a relatively old centre. The infrastructure there is decades old; it would cost a lot of money to upgrade it. So, in considering what the future of Hampstead is, we need to consider whether the services there ought to be there or ought to be moved to another location, and we are going through that in a proper way.

I met with the staff at the Hampstead centre a few weeks ago. I have to say that one of the leading doctors there was strongly supportive of the move as were a number of senior nurses who I met on an earlier occasion but, nonetheless, regardless of what happens to the Hampstead centre, I know there are a number of people who like to use the facilities, principally the hydrotherapy pool and the gymnasium.

I can indicate to the house that, at a meeting which the local member (the member for Torrens) is arranging, I will meet with user groups to work out how we can continue to support their use of those facilities because I think it is important that those facilities continue to be accessed by groups who represent people who have disabilities and also members of the community who like to access them. I can see no reason why that can't continue.

We also on that site, of course, at Hampstead have a dialysis centre, which we would want to continue and there may well be some other outpatient services there. All of these decisions have yet to be made, but one decision I can absolutely assure the member about: we have no intention of closing down the hydrotherapy pool. We obviously need to work through who would manage it and what their arrangements would be, but that pool is there and we are not going to get rid of it.

The SPEAKER: The Deputy Leader of the Opposition.