House of Assembly Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2) 54 2 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Ambulance Ramping Ambulance Ramping Mr PICTON House of Assembly Kaurna Ambulance Ramping Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (14:25): My question is to the Premier. Does the Premier believe the government has met its own target to end ambulance ramping in the Central Adelaide LHN by 30 April 2020? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain. Leave granted. Mr PICTON House of Assembly Mr PICTON: It was announced by the government that the Central Adelaide Local Health Network would end ramping by April last year. The bulletin, titled 'Ramping is not right: it ends on April 30', was issued in March last year. The spokesperson said to The Advertiser at the time, 'We are seriously committed to stopping ramping by 30 April [2020].' The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL House of Assembly Dunstan Premier The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:25): I thank the member for his question. It is a very important question, and we have stated publicly, on numerous occasions recently, that the current level of ramping is unacceptable and needs to change, and that's exactly and precisely what we are doing in South Australia. We are putting very significant additional investments into the current system to make sure that we can improve this situation. This comes in various areas: first of all, of course, is the upgrading of various emergency departments right across South Australia. When we came to government, of course we had a very difficult situation that we inherited from those opposite. When we came here, we had a very difficult situation that we inherited from those opposite. Mr Malinauskas House of Assembly Mr Malinauskas: Why is it getting worse? The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The leader will cease interjecting. The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL House of Assembly The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: They were downgrading emergency departments right across metropolitan Adelaide—more than downgrading emergency departments; they actually closed the Repat. They were putting massive additional pressure— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL House of Assembly The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: What we now currently have is— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier will resume his seat for a moment. Interjections on my right and interjections on my left will cease. I am doing my best to listen to the Premier's answer. The Premier is entitled to be heard in silence. The Premier has the call. The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL House of Assembly The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Thank you, sir. I was just talking about the massive upgrade in terms of the emergency department capability and capacity that we are embarking upon at the moment in South Australia. This project, which is very significant for our state, is causing some additional capacity constraints, particularly in the southern system that flows through to the central system, because at the moment the Flinders Medical Centre, which is the busiest emergency department in South Australia, needs a massive expansion. That is underway at the moment, but there is actually a reduction in beds available during this construction. What will ultimately be delivered is the largest emergency department in this state. We are doing an upgrade to Modbury. We are doing a massive expansion out at the Lyell McEwin Hospital at the moment. In fact, we are completely rebuilding the emergency department at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital. There are projects now in excess of $100 million worth of upgrades and capacity increases for our emergency departments in South Australia. We are also looking very closely at the patient flow through our hospitals, which is one of the issues that is causing some problems—making sure that people are in the right beds if they need to move into alternative care, whether that be aged care or some other facility. We are doing what we can to do that. There are a range of options that we are also considering. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! Before I call the member for Kaurna— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! Before I call the member for Kaurna, I call to order and warn the Minister for Education. I warn for a second time the member for West Torrens. I warn the member for Playford.