KordaMentha Report

Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (14:59): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier guarantee there will be no risk to patient care as a result of implementing corporate liquidator KordaMentha's cuts to our health system? With your leave, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr PICTON: Page 30 of corporate liquidator KordaMentha's second report lists as a medium risk that, and I quote:

…changes to the organisational structure have an adverse impact on the clinical performance of the organisation.

The SPEAKER: Again, a fair bit in that question, member for Kaurna. The Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (15:00): Quite to the contrary. The KordaMentha report is essentially an implementation plan to fix the problems that we inherited from the previous government. They have gone and spoken with clinicians, and they have gone and spoken with stakeholders and employee groups—pretty much every single person who was ignored by the previous government for 16 years when they developed their diabolical Transforming Health plan. We did exactly the opposite.

We learnt from their mistakes, their comprehensive mistakes. We knew that we would have to go out and consult comprehensively, and that is exactly and precisely what we have done. We have gone out to design a new system for the Central Adelaide Local Health Network that actually improves performance on that side, improves patient outcomes, because what we inherited was the most expensive and, quite frankly, an LHN that was giving suboptimal outcomes for patients in South Australia. That is completely unacceptable.

We could have swept this under the mat. We could have kicked this can down the road. The reality is that the people of South Australia have asked us, they have elected us, to fix the mess in the health system in South Australia. In the lead-up to the election, there was not a day that went by when I was not implored by the people of South Australia to do something about the mess that was in our health system in South Australia—

An honourable member interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —and we won't make any excuses whatsoever, or apologies, for getting the very best advice we possibly can.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: KordaMentha, of course, has worked with plenty of the people who are affected by the diabolical situation of the mismanagement of the Central Adelaide Local Health Network. They have spoken with doctors. They have spoken with nurses. They are working closely with the board, a new board, that has been put in place. We have employed a new chief executive, someone who has extensive international experience in dealing with the very best practice scenario in terms of health. We are absolutely convinced that what we are going to be doing with this report is improving patient outcomes, and that's precisely what we will do.