Health Services

Dr HARVEY (Newland) (15:49): I rise today to speak on the Marshall Liberal government's work to deliver better health services, following the recent opening of the High Dependency Unit as part of the $98 million upgrade to Modbury Hospital. I am proud to be part of a government that has ended the cuts inflicted on Modbury Hospital under the previous Labor government as a result of their failed Transforming Health experiment. What is abundantly clear is that this government is committed to delivering better health care closer to home. This government was elected at the last election with a mandate to fix this mess, and I thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to share with the house how the government is delivering on its promises.

Recently, I was honoured to be able to have a tour of the new High Dependency Unit (HDU). This important facility includes four new beds and is the foundation for the reintroduction of more complex surgeries at Modbury Hospital. It will provide a higher level of care than can be provided on a standard ward by increasing clinicians' ability to manage patients, both medically and in a post-surgery setting. Managing unpredictable post-surgery issues at the hospital will result in staff being able to undertake a greater scope of surgery, including multiday surgeries, which will ultimately reduce pressure on the Lyell McEwin Hospital operating theatres and bed capacity.

It is important to note that the High Dependency Unit, in particular, is a service being returned to Modbury Hospital that the previous government absolutely refused, right up until the election, to restore. Not only will the High Dependency Unit provide first-class specialised care but the opening of this new unit will also help to improve the flow of patients at the hospital and ease pressure on the emergency department. This will reduce the need to transfer patients to the Lyell McEwin Hospital or the Royal Adelaide Hospital, which means less travelling for patients and their families and freeing up ambulances for the local community.

I can assure you that I have spoken to many, many people within my local community who have stated that they have in fact chosen to live in the area they do. Whether it is in Hope Valley, Modbury, St Agnes or Tea Tree Gully, they have chosen to live in those places because they believe they are living near a hospital that would provide the services they need when they are in trouble, but that was of course ripped away under the previous government.

There are a number of other very important initiatives that the Marshall Liberal government is rolling out to reduce pressure on our emergency departments. An important program is the My Home Hospital program, an initiative that brings hospital care to people in the comfort of their own home instead of having to go to hospital.

There is also an important need to better and more adequately deal with people who present to hospital with mental health conditions. Following our coming to government, there was a gap at Lyell McEwin Hospital, and the government was required to fill it with an interim short-stay mental health unit to allow patients to receive more appropriate care than the emergency department that would provide that service before the Lyell McEwin Hospital emergency department upgrade was completed to include a more permanent facility.

The recently opened Urgent Mental Health Care Centre is also another important initiative that allows people in need of mental healthcare support to be provided with an alternative service that is specifically tailored to meet their needs. Priority care centres are another important program being rolled out by this government that provide an option for patients to be given the care that they need. These are patients with non life-threatening injuries or illnesses who, in the case of these priority care centres, can receive the care they need without necessarily needing to be admitted into an emergency department, once again helping to take pressure off our emergency departments.

We of course know there is still much more work to do, and the government is working very hard to continue to roll out projects such as these and upgrades at most hospitals right across our system to ensure a much greater capacity. The people of the north-east are certainly very grateful for this government rolling up its sleeves and fixing the mess that we inherited from those opposite. Labor's Transforming Health policy severely damaged public trust in the quality of our health system, but it is the Marshall Liberal government that is fixing up this mess so that the people of the north-east can have access to world-class health care closer to home.