Ambulance Ramping

Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (14:51): My question is to the Premier. Will there still be ramping by the end of your fourth year in office?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:51): We are working extraordinarily hard at the moment to undo the mess that was created by those opposite. There is no simple solution, as I pointed out, to what is occurring. We have to work on a number of fronts. Part of that is providing alternative pathways to divert people when there is a better treatment methodology for them—for example, the Priority Care Centres or the Urgent Mental Health Care facilities that have opened in the centre of the city today. This will take enormous pressure off our emergency departments.

But we have to do more than that. We have to make sure that the patient flow through the hospital is as efficient as possible. We have to make sure that people, when they are ready to leave, maybe to go to an aged-care facility or another residential facility, are facilitated to do that. And that is exactly and precisely what we are doing.

The third area we've got to focus on is the ambulances in South Australia to make sure that we have the right resources in place. Can I tell you, I have some statistics that I think may be of use to the house. Since July 2018 right through to June 30 last year, in that two-year period, which, if you like, reflects us coming to government, we know that South Australian ambulance staffing increased by 12.6 per cent, an additional 187 full-time equivalents in that area.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the leader!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: The current budget is also very important. The current budget provides for a further 5.1 per cent this year, which will be a further 76 full-time equivalents here in South Australia. We have increased the South Australia Ambulance Service's budget by 25 per cent since Labor's last budget in government, from $250.5 million per year to a whopping $313.2 million.

So we have been putting adequate resources in, but we always have to make sure that we are looking very carefully at those resources so that we do have the adequate resourcing in terms of personnel, in terms of the overall budget, but, importantly, in terms of the equipment that our paramedics and ambulance officers are provided with. We are very proud of what we have achieved so far in health, but don't forget that we are managing a global pandemic. This has been unequivocally the focus of just about every other health system in the world.

Whilst we have been managing the health system in South Australia we have also been pushing ahead with very significant reforms. One of those areas of reform is around the issue of expanding the capacity of the emergency departments in South Australia. This is in great contrast with what happened when we came to government where the emergency departments were being scaled down or in some cases closed. It beggars belief that the entire Repat Hospital was closed and flogged off by those opposite.

Mrs Power: Shameful, incredible!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: It is shameful. The member for Elder says that it is shameful, and she is exactly and precisely right, and so are the people of South Australia. I still remember very well the veterans who camped on the steps of parliament. Did those opposite take any notice of that? Not a bit. So, by contrast to closing the Repat, downgrading the emergency departments, we are embarking upon—

Ms Cook interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Hurtle Vale!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —a massive expansion at the Flinders Medical Centre. It will be the largest emergency department in the entire state, as well as a massive expansion at the Lyell McEwin, an upgrade at Modbury and a brand-new emergency department at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Of course, not everything has been delivered, but I can tell you one thing: we will not be going back to Transforming Health, but we will be pushing ahead with fixing the problem that we inherited from those opposite.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Before I call the member for Hammond, I warn the member for Schubert for a second time, I call to order the member for Hurtle Vale, I warn the member for Wright, I call to order the member for Kaurna, I warn the member for Ramsay, I call to order the Minister for Trade and Investment, and I call to order the Minister for Energy and Mining.