Ambulance Ramping

Mrs HURN (Schubert) (14:16): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Does the minister stand by his statement from 18 March 2022 regarding ramping? With your leave, sir, and that of house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mrs HURN: In a press release the minister stated, 'There is only one way to fix the ramping crisis, and that is to vote Labor tomorrow.' However, the August ramping figures are more than 800 hours worse than the worst month recorded under the former Liberal government.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mrs Hurn: More than 800 hours worse!

The SPEAKER: Member for Schubert, you have asked your question and you are on two warnings. The minister has risen and now will answer.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:17): Well, consider the counterfactual: if those members opposite were elected—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —and they weren't investing in additional beds at our hospitals—

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner: You said you'd fix ramping.

The SPEAKER: Member for Morialta!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —if they weren't employing additional doctors, nurses, midwives—

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner: You promised you'd fix ramping.

The SPEAKER: The member for Morialta is on two warnings.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —and paramedics across our health system, they weren't building additional ambulance stations right across the state, and they weren't building a new Mount Barker hospital, which is desperately needed in the Hills and was opposed by those opposite as well.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Chaffey is warned. Member for Frome!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: All of those investments are needed to address the issues that we see in our healthcare system. The key criterion, of course, is that what we see in terms of causing ramping is people getting stuck in the emergency department because there aren't beds elsewhere in the health system for them to go. We have opened up every possible bed that we can across our health system, but we need to build more.

That is why we've got construction underway at Lyell McEwin Hospital in the electorate of Ramsay. That's why we've got construction underway in the electorate of Davenport at Flinders Medical Centre—building additional beds. That's why we've got more beds that will be built at Modbury, at QEH, at Noarlunga, at Mount Barker to make sure that we've got the capacity for people to be seen, and every other possible measure we are taking to make sure that we can improve that flow through the healthcare system.

It was great on the weekend to be in the member for Ramsay's electorate where we've got a new partnership with the ACH Group at a new aged-care facility at Healthia, across the road from the Lyell McEwin Hospital. We have purchased two of those pods of 12 beds each within that facility to help people get out of hospital through the Lyell McEwin and Modbury Hospital to help free up capacity, because we do have a challenge in terms of people who get stuck in hospital for longer than they need to.

While we are building additional beds, we are also trying to help people get out of hospital when they need to. In addition, we are also, of course, putting in place more resources so people can get care without having to go to hospital as well through our hospital avoidance measures that we have announced in the budget, as well as additional funding that's going in to help the discharge, particularly over the weekend, where that slows.

In every possible measure, we are taking action to address this issue. From ambulances to emergency departments, to flow through the hospital, to capacity to the hospital, to discharge into appropriate care, it's a comprehensive plan right across the system. That is what is needed to address this issue and to mean ultimately that those ambulances can get to people on time.

As the Premier outlined, we are very pleased in terms of what we have seen in terms of the response times improving, but there is still a long way to go to get back to where we were just five years ago.