Modbury Hospital

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:41): Supplementary to the Minister for Health. What steps are being taken to inform the people who live in and around the Modbury Hospital catchment zone to which hospital they should present after they have self-diagnosed their condition?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Health Industries) (14:41): I don't know if the Leader of the Opposition is advocating self-diagnosis but, certainly from the government's perspective, self-diagnosis is generally not a good idea. We do not suggest people self-diagnose. The best thing is to get professional medical help. I should say that people should always go—

Ms Sanderson interjecting:

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

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: People should always go, if they need a hospital, but it's not something—

Ms Sanderson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Adelaide is warned.

Mr Marshall: Which hospital? What do you do? Do you go to Modbury? Do you go to Lyell McEwin?

The SPEAKER: If the leader makes another utterance outside standing orders, he will join the member for Hartley.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: Mr Speaker, if they are self-presenting, people should always present to the hospital that is closest to them. I can't be clearer than that. If they believe they have a life-threatening illness, they need to call an ambulance and the skilled paramedics will make a determination on what is the most appropriate hospital. If people are self-presenting, go to the nearest hospital where a nurse and a doctor can properly assess you. If they believe you need to be transferred to a high acuity hospital, they will arrange that. So, if self-presenting, always present to a close hospital, the closest that you have available.

The Modbury Hospital will be open seven days a week, 24 hours a day with exactly the same profile of doctors and nurses on staff that it currently has. We will not be making any changes to that. Doctors and nurses will be at the Modbury Hospital and, if you present there and it is something they believe is going to require an admission that is going to take some time and is not appropriate for the short-stay facility, they will arrange a transfer to the most appropriate hospital—which happens at the moment.

Modbury Hospital is not in a position, currently, to deal with every single presentation that comes before it. We already have, as I indicated in a previous answer, many patients who are currently transferred either to the Lyell McEwin Hospital or, often, the Royal Adelaide Hospital because they have a particular illness or disease that the Modbury Hospital is not equipped to deal with. This comes down to a fundamental fact about patient safety. If the opposition sat down and took time to listen to the clinical experts in these sorts of areas, they would know—

The SPEAKER: Point of order.

Mr GARDNER: The minister is now clearly debating.

The SPEAKER: Yes, the minister is debating the matter. He should supply the house with information.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: Very well. Mr Speaker; the simple fact is that what the experts in these areas tell us is that clinicians and clinical teams get good at dealing with injuries and illnesses, particularly of the highest acuity, when they see those sorts of presentations constantly.

If you are having a stroke, you do not want someone who sees stroke patients once every now and then. You want a team who sees stroke patients all the time, and the same goes for trauma, heart attacks and any number of high acuity injuries and illnesses. You want to be seen by a team that is going to see those sorts of presentations all of the time. You do not want to see a team who only does it every now and then, and that is no criticism of those who do.

They are very good, but for these high speciality areas, high acuity areas, they are very specialised and they require people who see these presentations on a constant basis, not just on an occasional basis. That is why it is important that we allow our hospitals to specialise so that they can develop the expertise and take better care of patients in those very high acuity areas, and that is at the basis of these reforms.

The SPEAKER: The members for Kavel and Stuart are called to order, and the member for Morphett is warned.