House of Assembly Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1) 54 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Country Hospitals Country Hospitals Mr PICTON House of Assembly Kaurna Country Hospitals Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (14:41): My question is to the Premier again. Has the government opened any extra beds at country hospitals, or has the government just transferred metro patients to country beds that were already open; if you have opened any, where are they? The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN House of Assembly Stuart Minister for Energy and Mining Country Hospitals The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart—Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:41): On behalf of the Minister for Health in the other place, I am happy to answer this question. This government unashamedly supports country hospitals and unashamedly supports country people to receive absolutely top quality medical care. One of the things that is a very stark difference between our government and the former Labor government— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN House of Assembly The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —is our focus and our support for country hospitals. One of the ways to ensure the longevity, the ongoing sustainment and also, in fact, the attraction of visiting specialists to country hospitals is to make the most of those country hospitals, is to have them active and is to have people in them. Of course, the member opposite perhaps may not be aware of this, but we are not blind to the fact that the previous government wanted to close country hospitals by attrition. They wanted to keep patients away from them so that they would wither and die on the vine. We are doing the exact opposite: we are supporting country hospitals and we are supporting country people by ensuring— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN House of Assembly The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: We are supporting country people and we are supporting country hospitals, and the country health system more broadly, by making sure that the hospitals are active and busy and working so that the people, the practitioners, who want to use their skills to support and help people have the opportunity to do so and so that visiting specialists have patients to see in the country. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left! The Hon. A. Piccolo House of Assembly The Hon. A. Piccolo: How many beds have you opened? If you don't know, just sit down and say you don't know. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The member for Light is called to order. The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN House of Assembly The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: So— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN House of Assembly The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —there is a stark difference between us. The previous government has closed down beds, closed down hospitals, closed down services, just reduced and reduced— Mr Hughes interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Member for Giles! The Hon. A. Piccolo House of Assembly The Hon. A. Piccolo: Where is the answer to the question, Mr Speaker? The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: I am trying to listen, but I keep hearing interjections on your side. The minister has the call. The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS House of Assembly The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order, sir. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: I am not taking points of order while the minister is being so rapidly— The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: He is being interjected constantly. Allow him to answer the question. I will listen carefully. The minister has the call. The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN House of Assembly The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Another stark difference between the new Liberal government and the old Labor government— The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS House of Assembly The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Yes, for debate. I have the point of order. Minister, please bring it back to the substance of the question. The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN House of Assembly The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Another stark difference between the new Liberal government and the former Labor government is the money that we put in our budget to catch up on the backlog of capital works in hospitals— The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS House of Assembly The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order: relevance, sir. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Debate. Yes, I uphold the point of order. Minister, please conclude your answer. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN House of Assembly The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: The shadow minister asked about additional beds in country hospitals. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Yes. The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN House of Assembly The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: The shadow minister must have forgotten that the Treasurer, the Premier and the Minister for Health have put, I think, $200 million of new money into the health budget to address the capital backlog, the backlog of maintenance. We want to invest in these hospitals so that they can provide more services, so they can attract better staff, so that patients can get better. That capital money— Ms COOK House of Assembly Ms COOK: Point of order: relevance. This has nothing to do with opening beds—nothing. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: I have the point of order. The minister is concluding his answer. The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN House of Assembly The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: That capital money will be invested in country hospitals not only to catch up on maintenance but to invest in new capital investments. Ms COOK House of Assembly Ms COOK: Point of order: the minister is not answering the question. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: I have the point of order. That is not a point of order. Ms COOK House of Assembly Ms COOK: Relevance. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The member for Hurtle Vale is warned and will sit down. Ms COOK House of Assembly Ms COOK: Relevance. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: I have the point of order. I have upheld previous points of order. The minister has been asked to conclude his answer, which he is doing. The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN House of Assembly The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: If the members opposite— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN House of Assembly The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —don't understand the link between capital investment and the number of beds in country hospitals, they severely miss the point. With regard to the specific question about a specific number, I will take that on notice and come back to the house.