SA Ambulance Service

Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (14:31): My question is to the minister representing the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. How many ambulances is enough to respond to call-outs between the Adelaide CBD and Victor Harbor at 8.30pm on a Wednesday night?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr Odenwalder interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Elizabeth is warned.

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan: How many ministers does it take to answer a question?

The SPEAKER: The member for Lee is on a second warning.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart—Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:31): One so far. Let me share some information that might help the opposition in regard to ambulances. Our South Australian Ambulance Service crews do a remarkable job in caring for South Australians.

Mr Brown: You already read this out.

The SPEAKER: The member for Playford is on two warnings.

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan: It's not a constitution; it doesn't need a preamble.

The SPEAKER: The member for Lee today can leave for the remainder of question time under 137A. The minister has the call. I would like to hear his answer.

The honourable member for Lee having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: I am deeply concerned by the moans indicating disagreement.

The SPEAKER: Point of order.

Mr PICTON: The minister is debating the answer.

The SPEAKER: 'Disappointed by the moans', I think that point of order is bogus and the member for Kaurna is lucky not to leave the chamber. What I would ask is for the decorum of this place to lift. Minister.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Our South Australian Ambulance Service crews do a remarkable job in caring for South Australians. Our crews always give priority to responding to the most sick in our community and those most in need of urgent—

Ms Stinson: So zero is the magic number. Zero is enough.

The SPEAKER: The member for Badcoe is warned for a second and final time.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —and those most in need of urgent health care. A number of cases in the data show where priority 1 cases experienced long wait times. In a majority of the cases, where the wait was more than half an hour, the patient was (a) in a regional area, (b) had started at a lower priority and been upgraded to priority 1 during the call-out, or (c) had left the location from where the call was made, making it extremely difficult for the ambulance officers to find the patient. Our South Australian Ambulance Service strives for excellence. Only in recent weeks, it was recognised as one of the best performing ambulance services in the nation.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Giles you are warned. The minister has the call.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Members on my left, we have the question. If this continues, members will be departing.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Only in recent weeks it was recognised as one of the best performing ambulance services in the nation. What is highlighted in the data, which the Minister for Health and Wellbeing has made public, is the extremes at the negative end, but either way our service continues to prioritise the sickest in South Australia. The average response times for priority 1 and 2 cases for each and every month, in the information the Minister for Health and Wellbeing has provided, were under our clinical targets. I commend the Ambulance Service—

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order: I have listened silently for two minutes now.

The SPEAKER: What is the point of order?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Debate, sir. The question was very specific.

The SPEAKER: Yes.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: At 8.30pm last night—

The SPEAKER: Yes, I have the point of order. I am going to ask the minister to come back to the substance of the question if he can. I have given him some time to warm up. I would ask him to come back to the substance of the question.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Given the breadth of the question 'how much is enough', I am trying—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: I am trying to provide some context.

The SPEAKER: Thank you. The minister has the call.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: I am trying to provide some context, which would help. The target attention time for a priority 1/life-threatening case is eight minutes. The target attention time for a priority 2 or potentially life-threatening case is 16 minutes. While there are particular days where some of these targets may not be achieved, average response times have been exceptionally good.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order: three minutes in now, we have asked how many ambulances are enough to respond.

The SPEAKER: Yes, I have the point of order.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: He's talking about response times now: debate.

The SPEAKER: I have the point of order and I believe that the minister is using his best efforts to provide relevant information that is germane to the question. I will continue to listen carefully. Minister.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Average response times for priority 1 and priority 2 cases in every month of the information provided by the Minister for Health and Wellbeing—

Mr Malinauskas: We said enough—what's enough?

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —have been under the clinical targets, which I just mentioned previously.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order: we didn't ask about response times. We have asked how many ambulances is enough.

The SPEAKER: Member for West Torrens, if this continues, you will be departing. Minister.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Now, having provided the opposition with information that makes it clear how the performance is tracking with regard to ambulance attention, I will seek a very specific answer from the Minister for Health and Wellbeing.