Central Adelaide Local Health Network

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:37): Supplementary: is the Central Adelaide Local Health Network particularly affected as it struggles to complete the new Royal Adelaide Hospital, prepare for the arrival of EPAS and the sacking of a large number of SA Pathology staff, all while awaiting the arrival of the new chief executive officer?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Health Industries) (14:38): We have appointed a new chief executive officer. She will start shortly. Of course, there is enormous complexity associated with all of the things that are happening at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. The move to the new Royal Adelaide Hospital is a project of considerable complexity. To, basically, move the quaternary hospital in the state from one end of North Terrace to the other end of North Terrace is an issue of significant complexity.

We are also asking our doctors and nurses not only to move hospitals but to adopt new models of care, which they will have to adopt in the new hospital. It will work significantly differently from the existing Royal Adelaide Hospital and all those changes are things of enormous complexity. I think it would be drawing too long a bow then to say that that therefore is the reason for issues with regard to elective surgery and mental health.

Elective surgery waiting lists, dealing with mental health patients and delays in mental health patients in emergency departments are not limited to Central Adelaide, they are not even limited to South Australia, these are problems that governments around the world, Western governments around the world are grappling with: how to deal with an increasing burden of chronic illness and increasing demand for hospital services. This is not something in which Central Adelaide is unique, let alone South Australia.