Royal Adelaide Hospital

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:11): My question is to the Minister for Health. Can the minister confirm that the new Royal Adelaide Hospital will not be able to house filing cabinets or adequate records storage due to the construction of its floor? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

The SPEAKER: Yes, in the correct form, unlike the member for Adelaide.

Mr MARSHALL: Thank you very much. An internal memo from the executive director of medical services dated 15 March this year states, 'Maximum load across the floor is not built to withstand concentrated numbers of records.'

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The leader will withdraw under the sessional order for the remainder of question time.

The honourable Leader of the Opposition having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Health Industries) (14:12): We have been talking for a very long time about the need to have a mixed system when we open the Royal Adelaide Hospital. We anticipate—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: I won't shout over the top of those opposite, Mr Speaker. We have been talking for a very long time about the need for a mixed system. It is not because of any issues with EPAS. The reason we do not want to have full functionality of EPAS is simply because we don't think it would be conducive to patient safety to be expecting our clinicians to adapt to a new working environment and to work in a completely different environment from that that they are used to, and at the same time be using a brand new IT system. So we have been talking for a very long time about having a limited rollout of EPAS from day one. We expect that that will be for about six months before the full EPAS functionality is rolled out—

Mr Knoll: If the hospital gets delayed long enough, it will be ready.

The SPEAKER: The member for Schubert may withdraw for the next half hour under the sessional order.

The honourable member for Schubert having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: —at the new Royal Adelaide Hospital. That means there will need to be some paper records kept on site. Obviously, there are a lot of paper records at the existing Royal Adelaide Hospital, because it is a hospital that has been there for 170 years. Over 170 years you do accumulate a lot of paper records; not all of them are going to be relevant. I do not think there are going to be many 170 year olds presenting at the emergency department. So, of course, some of those records—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: Some of those records will essentially be of a historic nature and not immediately relevant to clinicians. What the clinicians will have available to them at the new Royal Adelaide Hospital are those paper records that they need to have, basically at their fingertips, or very near their fingertips. We are working towards a temporary storage solution. It is not very complex to erect a temporary storage facility, because it will only be needed for six months. It just needs to be secure, and obviously keep those records safe. Mr Speaker, there is nothing particularly new in this. I know the Leader of the Opposition tweeted about it in July last year, and indeed I recall answering questions about it in estimates last year as well.

The SPEAKER: I call to order the Premier and the members for Morphett, Adelaide and Hammond. I warn for the first time the members for Kavel, Mount Gambier, Chaffey and Adelaide, and I warn for the second and final time the members for Hartley, Adelaide, Chaffey and Mount Gambier. Has the deputy leader been pursuing another vocation this morning?

Ms Chapman: New Federal Court judge.

The SPEAKER: Splendid.

Ms Chapman: Not you, obviously.

The SPEAKER: Alas. Deputy leader.