House of Assembly: Tuesday, September 08, 2015

Contents

Parkinson's Disease Nurses

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:41): Again, my question is to the Minister for Health. When will the government fulfil its commitment to employ five full-time Parkinson's disease nurses, given that there is presently only one nurse operating?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Health Industries) (14:41): We have recruited a new Parkinson's nurse for the north. That person was the existing Parkinson's nurse in the south, and so we will need to backfill that. But these are—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: Well, it is not funny. These are specialist—

The SPEAKER: The member for Adelaide and the member for Stuart are warned.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: Has been recruited? Someone has been recruited. That position in the south, I am informed, has been backfilled. Thank you. So, there are now two. I point out that these nurses are not just sitting around with nothing to do, they require specialist training. They require specialist qualifications, and we are going about making training available so that we can recruit nurses to fill those positions.