Cardiology Services

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:16): Can the Premier confirm that the decision to modify the government's original plans and restore cardiac services to The Queen Elizabeth Hospital was a decision that he and the Minister for Health made on their own on either Friday 16 June or Saturday,17 June?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier) (14:16): No, I can't confirm that. As the leader would be aware, because he has been happily repeating it, there have been significant representations that have been made by local clinicians in favour of the retention of the cardiac services at The QEH. We of course had the initial plans that were being proposed under the auspices of Transforming Health that involved some rationalisation of those services, but there were different perspectives being advanced by local clinicians.

On some of the occasions with Transforming Health, we take different perspectives into account. Where we think they are cogent and powerful representations, we seek to modify if we can, without doing any violence to the overall reforms that we are seeking, to alter them. That is what we did in a number of cases. There have been changes to the Flinders Medical Centre neonate wards, the Noarlunga emergency services and changes at Modbury Hospital. There have been changes across a range of various healthcare services. Obviously, our objective is to improve the quality of care. It's also—

Ms Chapman: You have failed.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: No, in fact we have succeeded. We have succeeded in very significant ways. The quality of care, as a consequence of these reforms, has improved. Also, because we know that high-quality care leads to the more efficient allocation of resources, we have also made some modest savings as well along the way. That has always been the way in which Transforming Health has been proposed—

Mr Goldsworthy interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I can hear the member for Kavel. He is called to order.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Where there are conflicting objectives and where there are strong community views, we have to also make sure that we take the community with us. Ultimately, it's their healthcare system. We make no apologies for taking into account the judgements of ordinary, everyday citizens about these matters because it's their services. It is critical to the success of those services that they have confidence in them, and so we take those things into account. We have made some hard decisions, which have not been popular, but we have stuck with them because they have been vital and they go to the heart of saving lives—

Mr Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I warn the member for Morialta for the second time.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —and improving the quality of care. We will never compromise the quality of care in any of our decisions, but we will, where we possibly can, seek to take into account the views of our communities. That's simply what the Minister for Health and myself, in consultation with the Treasurer, have done in a range of these matters.