Hospital Supplies

Mrs HURN (Schubert) (14:23): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. How does the minister respond to a mother and her experience at the Women's and Children's Hospital at the end of April? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mrs HURN: A mother reached out to the opposition after her sick four-year-old boy was forced to lie on towels as there were no pillows available at the Women's and Children's Hospital. A nurse searched for a pillow for about 20 minutes before returning to the pair saying, 'We just don't have any.'

The Hon. C.J. PICTON (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:24): Thank you to the member for Schubert for her question. I certainly was concerned to see that photo this morning of a patient—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —at the Women's and Children's Hospital where clearly a pillow was not available, and I have asked the Women's and Children's Health Network to look into this immediately. As was released almost a month ago in that document, the Women's and Children's Health Network was very clear that they had well over 500 pillows available in the hospital—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister has the call.

Mrs Hurn interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Schubert!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —and that they had systems in place to make sure that their availability was in place. Clearly that has not happened in this case for this patient, and I have asked the hospital to look into this as a matter of urgency. I have asked them to try to contact the patient's family. We have not been provided with those details from the opposition, but if they are able to do so then that would help us to be able to speak to the family involved.

I have actually also today gone down to the Women's and Children's Health Network and visited the paediatric emergency department to check for myself with my own eyes the situation in relation to pillows. There were significant numbers of boxes of pillows available at the Women's and Children's Hospital's emergency department. However, I think what has clearly happened is that the location they were stored in was not readily apparent to people who may have been new, or agency nurses, or other staff who have been working there.

That is certainly the advice that the nurse unit manager gave me; and basically she said, 'There's a new nurse who was working there who feels very bad about what has happened.'

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Chaffey!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: Our doctors, nurses and other staff work incredibly hard, and we need to make sure that it is as easy for them as possible to do their job. So, as at today those systems are being improved to make sure that those pillows are in a much more readily accessible and identifiable location within the emergency department at the Women's and Children's Hospital, because—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —there are many boxes of pillows there, but they were quite a way back in the storeroom. Making sure that they are as available and identifiable as possible will make sure that staff are able to ensure they can provide those pillows for when patients need them, because I agree that it is absolutely an essential element that we should be providing pillows, blankets—all of those essential—for our hospitals.

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Chaffey!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: Clearly, we have identified those systems that have been in place for many, many years at the hospital in terms of where they store those pillows and that can be improved and we will absolutely do so.