Ambulance Ramping

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Leader of the Opposition) (14:23): My question is again to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Has the minister directed any SA Health agencies to ensure ambulances are clearing the ramp, which has led to the creation of internal ramping? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: An Advertiser article from 22 June states that doctors at Flinders Medical Centre reported that there was a constant bombardment from management to clear the ramp even if it meant putting patients in corridors, resulting in internal ramping. Furthermore, in a safety inspection of Flinders Medical Centre undertaken by SASMOA on 25 May, it was reported that doctors were being hounded by hospital executives to get patients off the ramp.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:24): No. In fact, I can outline what's happened at Flinders Medical Centre, which is an issue that is outlined in an independent report that we received upon coming to government that was commissioned under the previous government.

Mrs Hurn interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Schubert is warned for a second time.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: This was a report by an esteemed doctor, Mark Monaghan from Western Australia, who is an expert in terms of flow issues in hospitals. He said very clearly, looking at what the previous government did in terms of what was called the Southern Health Expansion Plan (SHEP), that this program, which the previous Premier said was going to fix ramping—

An honourable member: Almost immediately.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —almost immediately—actually made ramping worse. It actually made ramping worse because what they did was to make the emergency department larger, not by extending the building but by reducing the number of inpatient beds in the hospital.

An honourable member: Genius!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: Genius!

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: So that led to no additional—

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Chaffey!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —capacity in the hospital overall, and it has only meant that the issues in the emergency department of access block have become worse. Upon coming to government and receiving those recommendations, the action that the government has taken is to accept those recommendations and ask that the Southern Adelaide Local Health Network implement those recommendations to make sure that flow can be addressed inside the emergency department.

Clearly, Flinders Medical Centre has been under increasing pressure over recent weeks because it has been facing both COVID and flu cases, whereas last year we had no COVID and no flu. Those issues, on top of the additional demand in the system, on top of a capital works program that an independent report said the Liberals made the situation worse, have clearly caused a significant number of issues in the emergency department of the hospital. We are working to address those issues as soon as possible.

We have been working with the Southern Adelaide Local Health Network, who have been trying to open up additional capacity inside the hospital. Obviously the Flinders Medical Centre is a significantly outdated facility now, which is something that in the last couple of months we have also been working on because we have also made a commitment, alongside the new federal government, to a major upgrade of the Flinders Medical Centre that will increase the capacity of the hospital not by a little bit but by a huge amount.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: There will be an additional 136 extra beds into—

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Morialta!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: This is a project that was not going to happen if those elected—

The Hon. B.I. Boyer interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Wright!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: If those opposite were elected, this project would not be happening and those additional beds would not be going into Flinders Medical Centre.

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Morialta is called to order.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: Because we made a commitment and the new federal government has made a commitment, we are building that additional capacity. Clearly, the issue we see in our emergency departments—whether it is the Flinders Medical Centre, the Royal Adelaide Hospital, The QEH or Lyell McEwin—is access block within the hospital, where you have patients inside the hospital who can't get admitted to beds and who end up stuck in the emergency department for longer. That means the next patients can't come in and that means the ambulances get stuck and, ultimately, people can't get ambulances on time.

That access block issue is what our election commitments are devoted to, what our commitments that we have made on top of that are devoted to, and it is why we have opened up every additional bed we can across the system. It is certainly a proposition, agreed to by all the doctors and other groups, that we need to address the capacity in the system. We simply don't have enough capacity in the mess that we inherited from those opposite.