Modbury Hospital

Mr GOLDSWORTHY (Kavel) (14:43): Going on from that question, and the answer provided by the minister, has a blanket ban on emergency surgery still been put in place at Modbury Hospital, or has that been lifted?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Health Industries) (14:44): There is no ban. We don't go sacking people for doing emergency surgery. No, what there is is an arrangement whereby, as I said, patients who present to the emergency department at Modbury Hospital and need emergency surgery are stabilised and they are taken to generally the Lyell McEwin Hospital, just depending on the complexity of whatever surgery they require. Exactly the same arrangement would happen at any number of our country hospitals—any number of our country hospitals, exactly the same arrangements, an arrangement which works very well.

If the opposition is suggesting that we should have emergency surgery at all our 70-odd country hospitals, I think that would take most people by surprise. The simple fact is that, for emergency surgery, if you present at the emergency department, then you are transferred, exactly the same as happens at any number of our country hospitals. It works very well and to the benefit of patients.

As I have said before, this is something that is quite different. We have an arrangement as a trial with our clinicians that if you are a patient who has already been in theatre, and you are at the Modbury Hospital overnight and you deteriorate and need to be rushed back into theatre, then, yes, that can happen. We have an ability to call in clinicians, call in nurses and call in the surgeon to come and operate on a patient who has had a sudden deterioration. They are quite different things.