Question Time

Health Review

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (16:39): My question is to the Minister for Health. If Labor's commitment to never, ever close the Repat did not survive five years, how can the community of the north-east trust the minister when he says that the Modbury Hospital will be providing services for many years to come?

Ms Bedford interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Florey 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) (16:39): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the opportunity to respond to the quite malicious scaremongering that the opposition has been engaging upon about the future of the Modbury Hospital—absolutely reckless scaremongering to try and scare people about the future of the Modbury Hospital and the future of the emergency department at Modbury Hospital.

With regard to the Modbury Hospital emergency department, yes, people with urgent life-threatening conditions will be taken either to the Royal Adelaide Hospital or the Lyell McEwin Hospital in an ambulance, but they won't be taken to the Modbury Hospital. How many presentations does that involve, at the moment, at Modbury Hospital? Less than half of 1 per cent—

Dr McFetridge interjecting:

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

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: —of current presentations to the Modbury Hospital will need to go to the Royal Adelaide Hospital or the Lyell McEwin Hospital. And why is that; why is this change important? It is important because, particularly after hours, with those life-threatening conditions, we have poor patient outcomes.

Mr Marshall: You say it's the best public health system in the entire nation yet we've got poor health outcomes.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: That's exactly what I say. Well done! The Leader of the Opposition has finally worked it out—it has finally clicked! Yes, I've been saying it for the last nine months and suddenly it's dawned upon the Leader of the Opposition, as if some great revelation.

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Health will not taunt the Leader of the Opposition.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: I'm sorry, sir—

Ms Digance interjecting:

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: I will try and resist.

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

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: Particularly for presentations after hours and those life-threatening conditions we have poor outcomes compared to people presenting during the day. Why is that the case? That's the case because we don't have enough after-hours coverage of senior clinicians. We don't have good after-hours coverage for the diagnostics, the medical imaging, the other services that a good emergency department requires. Not just during office hours: it requires those presentations 24/7 because otherwise our health system becomes nothing more than potluck about when you have a stroke, potluck about when you have a heart attack, potluck about when you have a serious trauma—whether you survive and walk out of the hospital, or whether you have some lifelong disability, or even worse, death.

As Minister for Health, I cannot abide by such a system. I am determined to improve it. We will make the changes necessary to ensure better consistency of care to make sure that the system supports our hardworking doctors and nurses and allied health professionals who are doing their best every day to make South Australians' lives better.