Question Time

Emergency Departments

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:21): My question is to the Minister for Health. Given that SA Health's Acting Chief Executive Officer, Jenny Richter, said last week that more doctors and nurses have been rostered on in emergency departments, can the minister explain to the house how many more doctors, how many more nurses, when did they start, and from what other areas of the health system did they come?

Mr Goldsworthy: He wants to sack them.

The SPEAKER: The member for Kavel is called to order.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Health Industries) (14:22): It's a question probably more suited to the estimates process, but I'll happily get a breakdown for the Leader of the Opposition about when staff commenced and when they didn't. There can be no doubt that we have employed additional staff to deal with the present surge in demand in our emergency departments. If you want a breakdown of the exact staff, how many there were and when they started, I would be happy to provide that to you.