Ambulance Services

Mr TARZIA (Hartley) (14:12): My question is to the Minister for Health. Considering that a 2011 Heart Foundation survey of South Australian, Victorian and New South Wales patients found that for 20 per cent of the patients presenting to hospital with suspected coronary problems who did not come by ambulance cost was a key reason for not doing so, what modelling has the government done on the impact of its emergency department changes on health outcomes of the uninsured?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Health Industries) (14:13): Did the member for Hartley say this was something that was done in Victoria? Did I hear him correctly, or are we talking about a South Australian survey?

Mr Tarzia interjecting:

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: I'm not familiar with the survey that was done. I am more than happy to have a look at it and see what relevance it has. But there can be no doubt that if you are having a heart attack the best place for you, other than obviously an emergency department, is in the back of an ambulance because your treatment will begin as soon as the ambulance picks you up. Often, paramedics are basically able to diagnose that you are having a heart attack, notify the emergency department that they are taking you to that they have a heart attack patient in the back of the ambulance so the emergency department is ready and waiting for them.

That doesn't happen if you self-present, so your outcome is often going to be worse than if you had called an ambulance. We always encourage people to call an ambulance and, indeed, it is certainly dangerous to drive yourself and certainly not recommended to get someone else to drive you if you suspect you are having a heart attack.

Lots of heart attacks are able to be relatively easily diagnosed with an ECG. There are some patients who are having a heart attack where it is not so clear that it is a heart attack, and they require further tests that I think take some hours. Noarlunga Hospital is able to deal with those patients. They take care of those patients and they do the relevant tests to determine whether it is a heart attack that they are having, because I think these tests can take some hours, and then, if it is confirmed that they are having a heart attack, only then do they transfer them up to Flinders Medical Centre. We encourage people to get an ambulance and not self-present if they are in any doubt as to whether or not they are having a heart attack.