Hospital Transfers

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:08): Supplementary: given that the Minister for Health can't tell us what the average time for transfer of a patient is in the emergency circumstances that he has referred to, how can he assure the house that when Scott Watkin does complain that between 'four and five hours' is a good time, to quote him, isn't the norm for even the emergency transfers?

The Hon. J.M. Rankine interjecting:

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Health Industries) (15:09): You can't equate a patient—

The SPEAKER: The member for Wright is warned.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: —who is not critically ill, and is currently being able to be adequately looked after where that patient is, to a patient who is critically ill and needs urgent attention. That is not an unusual thing in our hospital system for patients who are critically ill and need a higher standard of care than is able to be provided at the location they are at.

It happens quite frequently in country areas, where patients who are critically ill are taken to the local country hospital. The RFDS is called and that patient is medically evacuated. This is not something that we are not used to dealing with on a frequent basis, the transferring of patients. I have enormous confidence in the ability of us to do this.

But let's get back to why these changes are being made. They are being made because at the moment we have elderly patients having to wait up to not five hours but 150 hours to get a straightforward hip fracture fixed, and they are left waiting in the Lyell McEwin Hospital because the orthopaedic service at the Lyell McEwin Hospital, which is the third tertiary hospital in our state, doesn't have a seven day a week, 24 hours a day orthopaedic roster.

So, generally speaking, elderly patients are left waiting after hours for many days to get that surgery, which is relatively straightforward surgery, but while you're waiting for it you're incredibly uncomfortable, and this is what we want to fix. The other thing I point out is that interstate we know, and overseas experience knows, that when you stream your elective surgery you can work far more efficiently and effectively. You have fewer cancellations and you can eat into those elective surgery waiting lists. These reforms will provide for—

Mr Marshall: Why haven't you been doing it then?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: Well, the Leader of the Opposition needs to make up his mind: either he is going to say that these are a good thing or a bad thing. I thought his line was, 'They're a bad thing.' Now he's saying, 'Why haven't you done it earlier?' It would be nice to just have a little bit of consistency from the Leader of the Opposition. He's got to make up his mind: either he likes these changes or he doesn't, but you can't have it both ways. You can't say, 'Well I don't like these changes, but why didn't you do them earlier?'

Mr GARDNER: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: It's hardly a point of order because the leader has been interjecting constantly and taunting the Minister for Health, who has now responded.

Mr GARDNER: I seek a question.

The SPEAKER: The member for Wright.