Southern Health Expansion Plan

Mrs POWER (Elder) (15:37): We promised we would undo the damage of Labor's disastrous Transforming Health policy, and we are delivering on that promise day in, day out. Today, we have announced a landmark Southern Health Expansion Plan. I know how important this is for people in my local area and the southern region who want to know that they can get the health care they need when they need it and close to home.

We inherited a basket case of a health system, with the former Labor government downgrading and closing health services right across a number of hospitals and of course none of us can forget that Labor closed and tried to sell the Repat. So what are we as a government now doing to repair the healthcare system? We are reopening the Repat, and this morning with the Premier, the Minister for Health and Wellbeing and the members for Davenport and Waite we revealed an $86 million Southern Health Expansion Plan.

This plan includes establishing a 12-bed acute specialist facility at the Repat, which complements the dementia care village that will be at the site; creating an acute ward and increasing overnight medical cover at the Noarlunga Hospital; and expanding the emergency department at Flinders Medical Centre with an additional 30 treatment spaces, which comprises 12 more emergency extended care unit beds, 12 more treatment bays and six flexible beds. Importantly, to support this expansion, there will be an additional 45 full-time equivalent doctors, specialists and nurses.

This means people living further south can get the care they need closer to home at Noarlunga Hospital. Further, the acute ward at Noarlunga Hospital will also reduce the number of ambulance transfers to Flinders Medical Centre. This, combined with the actual expansion of the emergency department at Flinders Medical Centre, is a game changer for residents not just in the south but right across metropolitan Adelaide with a positive ripple effect.

Of critical importance to my local residents, this plan encompasses our work to reactivate the Repat, as we promised. When residents told us that the Repat should not be closed and sold, we on this side of the house listened and we acted. When South Australians told us they want better health services, the Marshall Liberal government listened and acted. As we near the end of 2019, I look back on all that we have done to repair and improve our healthcare system, not only in metropolitan Adelaide but in regional South Australia as well. It has been a big year.

At the Repat site alone, we are developing a 78-bed dementia care facility. This is a South Australian first, with the state government partnering with HammondCare to deliver innovative homelike accommodation to care for people at varying stages of dementia. We are building a 26-bed transition care ward and we are establishing a veterans' wellbeing centre and refurbishing the SPF Hall. Of course, the Repat site is a big site and these are just some of the things that we are doing after developing a master plan and working very closely with the community and healthcare practitioners.

Our Marshall Liberal government has been getting on with the job. This is our investment in our clinicians, services and world-class infrastructure to better support the health and wellbeing of all South Australians. We had a strong plan for real change and we are firmly focused on delivering this change, not only for the wonderful residents in the electorate that I represent and fight for every day but for all South Australians.