Lyell McEwin Hospital

Ms LUETHEN (King) (15:34): Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to speak today. I am excited about the actions that the Marshall Liberal government are taking to improve health services and car parking at the Lyell McEwin Hospital. Over the past couple of years, I have been blessed to meet many amazing doctors, nurses, hospital staff and volunteers in my King electorate from the Lyell McEwin and Modbury hospitals who have regularly provided me with feedback and are very dedicated and passionate about improving our healthcare system.

The feedback I received in King was very consistent before the state election: people wanted a government that would listen to the community and would advocate for better health services and facilities in our community. I would like to thank everyone in my King electorate for continuing to have their say and for regularly keeping in touch with me as we work together to improve our health system. As a result of my community's feedback, I was thrilled to recently join our Minister for Health and Wellbeing at the Lyell McEwin Hospital to announce the $7 million expansion of the multideck car park facility at the hospital.

People in King have regularly told me that parking near the hospital has been an ongoing concern for them, especially for many in the local community who work and volunteer at the hospital. I, too, have struggled to find parking at the hospital. This expansion of 205 additional car parking spaces will provide much-needed relief for our patients, staff and visitors to the hospital. The parking improvements the Marshall Liberal government are delivering will include full weather protection, lighting, signage and CCTV to ensure safety and security for all who use this facility.

The next step in delivering our commitment is to further consult our local community via a survey to seek views on what measures we can take to make the car parking safer and how to improve the availability of access to the hospital from car parks and public transport stops. The survey is open for two weeks; one week has already passed, so there is one more week for you to have your say. We want to hear your ideas on how we can make the hospital car park safer and more accessible. If anyone would like a copy of the survey link, please email me at king@parliament.sa.gov.au and I will certainly send it to you. There is a copy of this link on my Facebook page. I encourage my community to participate.

The construction works on the new $7 million multideck car park at the Lyell McEwin Hospital will begin in September. Further to this commitment, in the budget estimates committee last week in parliament we discussed the planned works to transform the Lyell McEwin Hospital emergency department to ensure that it can cope with the population growth planned for Adelaide's north. The state government is seeking approval for a $58 million project, which involves expanding the existing car park before adding a three-level extension to the emergency department, along with adding a new purpose-built eight-bed short-stay mental health unit. Our plan will almost double the capacity of the emergency department to help cater for the increase in population.

We want to alleviate the pressure on the existing emergency department at Lyell McEwin Hospital, and our plan will deliver on this. As leaders and as a community, we are judged by how we look after our most vulnerable people. I am pleased to say that through the development of the new purpose-built eight-bed short-stay mental health unit, we will be providing a much-needed and more suitable care environment for mental health patients requiring a short stay. This will help to improve patient flow through the emergency department.

It is anticipated that construction will be scheduled to begin in early 2020 and is forecast to be completed in 2022. If you would like more information about our plan to upgrade the Lyell McEwin Hospital emergency department, with the new purpose-built eight-bed short-stay mental health unit, please email me at King. Mr Speaker, I thank you again for this opportunity to speak about what the Marshall Liberal government are doing to improve services for people living in King.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Mr Speaker, I call your attention to the state of the house.

The SPEAKER: A quorum not present, please ring the bells.

A quorum having been formed: