Women's and Children's Hospital

Mrs HURN (Schubert) (14:33): Thank you, Mr Speaker. My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Can the minister assure South Australian parents that the care of their children is not compromised, given the failure of the state's flagship Women's and Children's Hospital to keep its Paediatric ICU accreditation?

The Hon. C.J. PICTON (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:33): This is obviously accreditation in regard to training, but I think there are two key factors—

Mrs Hurn interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Minister, please be seated. The member for Schubert will leave the chamber under 137A for the remainder of question time.

The honourable member for Schubert having withdrawn from the chamber:

The SPEAKER: The minister has the call.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: Thank you very much, sir. I think there are two key things to say. One is that we have incredible doctors and nurses who work at the Women's and Children's Hospital, who work day in and day out, in sometimes very difficult circumstances, to provide the appropriate care their patients deserve. I want to thank them on what I am sure is a difficult day for them.

On the other hand, we have a health service that is significantly under strain, significantly under pressure, which means that there are only so many places that those doctors and nurses can be to be able to provide the level of care they would want to. That's why we need the additional staff—

Ms Pratt interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Frome is warned.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —and that's why we need the additional doctors we have committed to. We were the only party at the last election that committed to additional doctors at the Women's and Children's Hospital.

Ms Pratt interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: We set out in—

Ms Pratt interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Frome is warned for a final time.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —a large amount of detail where those doctors were going to go, what level of doctors they were going to be, the time line in terms of those doctors. That has been warmly received by the doctors at the Women's and Children's Hospital, who have felt that their calls for more resources to address these issues have been falling on deaf ears time after time.

I refer back again to the letter from 2019 from the Medical Staff Society. This is over three years ago that this was written to the previous government. They said again:

There is concern that medical advice relating to the provision of appropriate contemporary care is being consistently ignored without explanation or justification. This relates to the resourcing of both hospital and community departments. The medical interventions and equipment provided at the Women's and Children's Hospital are falling behind those available in peer hospitals in Australia.

This was on the record back on 2019. In addition, they said:

Gaps in current care have already been identified and documented by medical staff to our Executive.

That is back in 2019. They also said:

The lack of advanced training positions (both senior registrars and fellows) at the Women's and Children's Hospital compared with other local and interstate hospitals is compromising our ability to achieve consistently high standards of service delivery, blocking career development, sending high quality trainees interstate and jeopardising the future medical consultant workforce for South Australia.

So warning after warning was there on the record to the previous minister, no doubt to the previous Premier, the member for Dunstan. Where is he on this issue?

Ms Pratt interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Frome, you are warned.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: Why did they not listen to these warnings three years ago?

Ms Pratt interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Frome!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: We are now taking action.

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Chaffey!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: We will put in additional resources that need to be put in place.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Hurtle Vale! The minister has the call.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: We will put in the additional resources that need to be put in place in relation to the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, but also in terms of other areas of paediatric medicine at the Women's and Children's Hospital that have been identified as understaffed. That's why we have a costed, fully planned—

Ms Pratt: They've got to wait 10 years.

The SPEAKER: Member for Frome, you are on a final warning.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —proposal/plan that we are rolling out. We have already hired a number of different doctors at the hospital. We will continue to hire more and that will include the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit to address the concerns that have been raised.