Health System

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE (Wright) (15:40): I am pleased to be following the member for Flinders in discussing health issues in South Australia. What this Liberal opposition wants is people to believe that they are somehow born-again supporters of the public health system in their desperation to finish their 16 years of opposition in this state, the longest serving opposition in Australia.

I am going to take a few minutes today to outline just a few of my experiences of the debacle of a health system in the northern suburbs, specifically what local people had to endure when the Liberals were last in government. First, I will look at Modbury Hospital. It was a Labor government that built Modbury Hospital, it was a Liberal government that privatised it. After the 2002 election when Labor took government again, Labor saved it by bringing it back into public hands.

Modbury was the Liberals' first attempt at privatising a hospital, but it was not going to be their last. The quality of patient care was appalling under private management and Healthscope, the private operator, ended up desperate to get out of its contract. MPs were bombarded with complaints, and I was no exception. There were heart-wrenching cases, cases of neglect and incompetence, and I have a file drawer full of complaints.

To give some idea of what locals had to endure when the Liberals ran our health system, I refer to a case of cancer patient Jimmy Queenan. He had fallen from his bed because, despite repeated requests, no sides were provided to prevent him falling. Sadly, Mr Queenan spent the last days of his life naked on the hospital floor, covered only with a sheet. This was a shocking case, and I apologise to members of the family if my raising this again brings back the hurt they suffered, but it is important that people understand what a Liberal government would do to a health system given the chance. I have no doubt the circumstances of Mr Queenan's passing still haunt his family today.

Another constituent was given morphine, despite his chart clearly documenting he was allergic to this drug. If I recall correctly, it was recorded no less than four times, yet he was asked simply, 'Why don't we just give it a go?' This patient discharged himself from hospital. Then of course, there was my dad—79 years old, a stroke victim with limited mobility and communication—who was taken from his hospital bed to be transferred to the repatriation hospital, knowing it was full to capacity and that he would have to sit and wait all night for a bed.

There were plenty of beds at Modbury, because by this time no-one wanted to be treated there such was their reputation. The transfer did not happen because of my intervention. The next day we were told the transfer would occur as a bed was available. When we got to the repatriation hospital, they could not find him. He had been left at Modbury in an empty ward all day, sitting on a chair, with his clothes in a paper bag. They forgot to arrange transport. Worse, they forgot he was even there. He was completely disregarded by those caring for him in the Liberal privatised Modbury Hospital.

They are just three examples of what Modbury was like under the Liberals. People would plead with ambulance officers not to take them to Modbury. Nursing staff did not want to work there. The Liberals in this state have no shame in peddling fear and lies about the Modbury emergency department which is a 24-hour seven days a week service. I will read from The Advertiser newspaper of 11 May 1998 under the headline, 'Saving lives on the front-line'. It is an article essentially about Dr David Pope, a familiar name, I know. Let me quote from the article:

The State has only 11 fully qualified emergency room doctors—but 50 are needed. And it will be at least another five years before enough pass through the training system to fill the gaps.

Last Sunday, the Noarlunga Hospital's emergency room had to close for the third time in two years when its only doctor called in sick. Australian Medical Association State president Dr Trevor Mudge says there simply aren't enough qualified doctors, or nurses for that matter, to go around.

Imagine closing the emergency services because the only doctor was sick. The whole system was sick under the Liberal government. I will continue my remarks at a later date and include in those circumstances around the Lyell McEwin health service and the state that was in, and what people had to endure in the northern suburbs. People need to remember—and think very hard—that when they vote they will be voting at the next election for their health and wellbeing, and they cannot trust the Liberals to deliver.