Light Electorate

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (15:37): Today, I would like to speak about a couple of things of importance and interest to my electorate. The first one I would like to speak about is that last Friday night I attended the 10^th anniversary of Gawler GP Inc., which is a not-for-profit incorporated organisation made up of GPs. The organisation helps us provide in Gawler, through the public health system, after-hours emergency services. We have the Gawler Health Service, which has a normal working hours operation, and then GP Inc., which is made up of general practitioners in the area, provides a service outside the normal clinic hours of medical practices.

This started as a result of some local GPs who were under pressure when trying to provide after-hours services in a growing community. The organisation was established, and they took their first patients as GP Inc. in July 2007. They have a number of doctors on their roster who provide after-hours service, and it is a very important service. It provides Gawler and the surrounding areas with an emergency department, effectively. Even though it is not a publicly run service—it is run by GP Inc.—they provide a very important service to our community.

The model of care was not a reinvention of the wheel but, rather, an improvement of previous attempts to fund the old northern division of general practice. As a result of the doctors getting together and providing this model, we are very fortunate to have a very good after-hours service. At some point in the future, this may be reviewed but, certainly, at the moment, they provide an excellent service. In fact, the service is so good that last night at my sub-branch meeting (the Gawler ALP sub-branch) a motion was passed to congratulate Gawler GP Inc. on the very valuable service they provide to our local community.

Since opening, they have treated 100,000 patients, which is quite an effort for what is essentially a smaller public hospital, and 85 per cent of those 100,000 patients are residents who live in either the 5116 or 5118 postcode area, which is basically the urban parts of Gawler. It is a very reliable service and, in fact, I have used the service on a number of occasions, either for myself or my children.

In some ways, it is the best of both town and country; in other words, we have an emergency department, but also quality care and attention that you get in a country area. They also work closely with the Lyell McEwin health service, and the government announced yesterday a major upgrade in the emergency department, and that is very important because those two hospitals, the Gawler Health Service with GP Inc. and Lyell McEwin, make sure that people in the north and in Gawler have the best access to emergency care available.

In case people were unconvinced that $52½ million should be spent on the upgrade of the Lyell McEwin emergency department, to put it in context I understand that on any given day the emergency department sees as many presentations as the Royal Adelaide Hospital. The number of presentations has increased, from 35,000 presentations a year, back in 2005-06, to what they are now, which is about 70,000 presentations.

I would like to acknowledge the contribution of the following people who have been members of the board of GP Inc. GP Inc. has had 13 board members over the last 10 years, four of whom have been there for 10 years. I would like to acknowledge 13 members whose contribution is important. They include Dr Anthony Page; my personal doctor, Dr Don Davis; Dr Kendra Powell; Dr Bill Lees, who delivered my children; Dr Keith Brewerton; Dr Adrian Borg; Dr Michael Brown; Mr Mark Foster, first public officer; Ms Amber Parham, current public officer; Senator David Fawcett, former senator and member for Wakefield and first community member; Ms Helen Hennessy, current community member; Mr Eric Moen, previous community representative; and the current chair, Dr Simon Hall. I commend them for the very good practice we have in Gawler.