Port Pirie Health Service Advisory Council

The Hon. G.G. BROCK (Stuart) (16:05): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. In regard to our health advisory council, which is made up of community people, can the minister advise my community how we can understand what is happening in our community in regard to any health issues this committee might be discussing? Particularly, currently there is a lot of community concern in regard to the future of the Hammill House aged-care facility. With your leave, Mr Speaker, and that of the house, I will explain further.

Leave granted.

The Hon. G.G. BROCK: As the minister is aware, this committee consists of a chair, a local government representative, a local member of parliament representative, a medical practitioner—which I will mention has been vacant for some time—a staff representative plus six community members. Our Port Pirie HAC do not place their minutes on their website, nor do they do any public consultation.

I get numerous community members coming into my office asking what is happening, particularly in regard to the future of the Hammill House aged-care facility, which is part of the Port Pirie Regional Health Service. The board itself undertook a survey in January this year regarding the future direction of that facility. At the moment, we have no communication whatsoever, and I have people coming in droves to understand what is happening.

The SPEAKER: I think the Independents, as we saw from the member for MacKillop yesterday, are sort of merging the 90-second statements in with the questions. I will give you credit for job-sharing.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (16:06): Thank you very much to the member for Stuart for his question. He is passionate about local health services in Port Pirie and broadly in his electorate. In relation to the question of the publication or distribution of information that has been discussed by health advisory councils, that is a matter for their own constitution, I am advised.

The understanding I have is that most health advisory councils when they were established adopted what was then a model constitution that was created after the Health Care Act 2008 was enacted. That put in place provisions: minutes have to be provided, they have to be provided on request to the chief executive of a hospital, and there is also the ability for the health advisory council to provide those minutes to other people more broadly who are not on the health advisory council as they deem appropriate.

To date, this has not been an issue that has been raised with me for any other health advisory councils, which may well mean that other health advisory councils have taken a more proactive approach in terms of being able to release their minutes. I will certainly have a look into the issue in relation to whether the Port Pirie Health Service Advisory Council have been refusing requests from people to have access to their minutes. Certainly, as the member knows and outlined in his explanation to the question, members of parliament in local areas are able to nominate a representative on the health advisory council, which I am sure the member has done so would have access to the minutes that way.

Certainly, in relation to the issue of Hammill House, it is an issue that I am aware of. I am also aware of the member's strong advocacy in relation to this matter. The Yorke and Northern Local Health Network has been consulting with the community in relation to that. Obviously, part of that would be discussion with the health advisory council. The advice that I have as of yesterday is that there have been no decisions made by the local governing board of the Yorke and Northern Local Health Network following that consultation that took place over previous months.

I am sure that this is a subject matter that the member will continue to advocate for and continue to be particularly interested in, as will I, as this becomes a matter that the governing board considers in coming months. Of course, the government is strongly committed to expanding health services in the Port Pirie region. I know the member is well aware—and I am thankful for his advocacy—of measures that were put in the state budget that were tabled in the last week of sitting. That means that we will be able to ensure that we can deliver a proper new emergency department at the Port Pirie regional hospital.

In addition to that, we will establish what has been called for, for some time, particularly from Uni Hub, in relation to a clinical simulation centre for Port Pirie. That will be established and run through the local health network, but obviously provided to Uni Hub and other training providers as needed to enable more health practitioners to be trained locally in the region, in the Upper Spencer Gulf, ultimately to see more health practitioners working in Yorke and Northern Local Health Network and in the Port Pirie hospital.