Regional Hospital Helipads

The Hon. G.G. BROCK (Stuart) (14:27): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Can the minister update my community as to the replacement of the existing helipad located on the Port Pirie regional health grounds, which has been there for many years and which can no longer be utilised by the new Medicare helicopters? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. G.G. BROCK: The awarding of the new contract by SA Health for medical retrieval by helicopter has resulted in the existing helipad not being able to be utilised due to the increased weight of the new rescue units. This has resulted in patients having to be transported to the local aerodrome some six to eight kilometres away, resulting in existing ambulance staff having to be utilised for longer periods than previously. My understanding, minister, is that the money is in the budget.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:28): Thank you very much to the member for Stuart for his question and his advocacy on this important matter. He is right in terms of we have inherited a situation where many helipads across the state, including at the Port Pirie Regional Health Service, were not up to scratch in terms of the capability and the safety requirements they needed through the civil aviation authorities, and we are now having to upgrade those helipads to meet those requirements.

We are very appreciative that the Treasurer has allocated some $23.4 million to enable those works to happen, particularly at Port Pirie but also at 12 other country hospitals across the state: Balaklava, Clare, Kangaroo Island hospital at Kingscote—which you will be interested in, of course, Mr Speaker—Kapunda, Loxton, Mannum, Meningie, Murray Bridge, Port Broughton, the Riverland General Hospital at Berri, the Southern Fleurieu hospital at Victor Harbor, as well as Wallaroo.

All of those hospitals are receiving upgrades to their helipads out of that $23 million investment, and that will mean that they meet the requirements that are needed to safely transport those patients, to safely take those helicopters, and to look after the staff and patients. Most of those helipads will be widened to have larger landing areas, allowing the new statewide Rescue Helicopter Service fleet to be able to use them safely during the day and night when they hit the skies later this year.

We are pleased to report that the Pirie helipad works were recently tendered as part of the same project as the emergency department upgrade. The member will be very familiar with this. Something he has passionately advocated for for some time is having that new emergency department built at Pirie, as well as what was put in the last state budget to have the new clinical simulation training laboratory built at Pirie, which will help us to train more healthcare workers for the local area. That is an additional $20.6 million investment going into those two projects: that plus the helipad are being tendered together.

We are expecting that the Pirie helipad in particular will cost $1.5 million and will be happening on the existing site of the current helipad at the hospital. That tendering, I am advised, is going through the final stages at the moment. The construction works for the helipad and the ED will be integrated and focus on completing the helipad as soon as possible, with that expected to come online before the emergency department.

I thank the member for his advocacy in relation to that matter. This will be good news for patients in Pirie, particularly those who are critically ill and need to be transported to metropolitan hospitals. They will have a much safer facility very shortly.