Lyell McEwin Hospital

Mrs HURN (Schubert) (14:43): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Given the demand at the Lyell McEwin Hospital, why did the government only promise 24 beds at the state election? With your leave, and that of the house, I will explain.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Point of order from the Leader of Government Business.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Standing order 97, sir: the question involves argument.

The SPEAKER: I will give the member for Schubert an opportunity to rephrase. I observe that she was about to seek leave, and it may be that a very minor adjustment to the question would sit within the standing orders.

Mrs HURN: My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Why did the government promise 24 beds at the Lyell McEwin Hospital initially? With your leave, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mrs HURN: The former Liberal government committed to delivering an additional 48 beds at the Lyell McEwin Hospital. The Labor Party had only promised 24 and are now playing catch-up.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Premier is called to order. The minister has the call.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:44): I really welcome this question from the member for Schubert. Perhaps it could have been asked by somebody from this side.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Chaffey! The minister has the call.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: It does give me an opportunity to talk about—

Mr Pederick interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Hammond is warned.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: It does give me the opportunity to talk about this government's approach to investing in our health system, which is about adding additional beds to the health system—adding additional beds. We had the pleasure yesterday—the Premier and I, the Treasurer, the member for King, the member for Florey and the member for Playford—to visit the Lyell McEwin. What you see there is successive building works initiated by Labor governments. This was, 20 years ago, a very, very small hospital with a very small number of beds, and it has expanded and expanded.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Morialta is warned for a second time. The minister has the call.

The Hon. P.B. Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Premier is called to order. The minister has the call.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: The stage C development that was completed about six or seven years ago by the previous Labor government foreshadowed that it would have in place the ability to expand beds at that hospital. So what did we see over the past four years? Expansion of inpatient beds?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister has the call.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: How many beds did we see expanded at the Lyell McEwin Hospital over the past four years?

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: Good question.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: Good question. Inpatient beds: how many were expanded at the Lyell McEwin? Was it 40? Was it 20? It was actually zero. Zero additional inpatient beds—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —were expanded at the Lyell McEwin Hospital under those opposite.

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Chaffey!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Minister, please be seated.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: Can we stop the clock in these interruptions? I'm going to lose my time to talk about this.

The SPEAKER: Minister, please be seated. The member for Chaffey can leave for 15 minutes under 137A and the member for Florey can join him.

The honourable members for Chaffey and Florey having withdrawn from the chamber:

The SPEAKER: The minister.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: We went to the election with a very clear plan to expand inpatient beds right across South Australia, right across our metro system—in fact, 300 additional beds—because we listened to the doctors, to the nurses, to the allied health professionals and to the ambos—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —who said that they were under pressure, their patients are stuck in the emergency department and that's what is causing ramping. So we went with a plan for hundreds of beds in the system.

Ms Stinson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Badcoe!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: Importantly, part of that plan was for the doctors and nurses when these beds actually open, recurrent funding for the beds when they open, whereas what we saw from those opposite was, a few weeks before the election, having had four years and done nothing, a very rushed-out plan for about a third of the number of beds that we committed to without any funding for doctors and nurses to open those beds at all.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: Not one dollar.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The minister has the call.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: Our commitment is not only to open your beds but to do what you didn't do and actually have the doctors and nurses in place: 100 extra doctors, 300 extra nurses, 350 extra ambos. Our health system is under tremendous pressure. We need these beds to make sure that people can get the treatment that they require outside the emergency department, but we need the doctors and nurses to actually provide the care for people.