Port Pirie Health Service

The Hon. G.G. BROCK (Stuart) (15:18): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Can the minister update my community regarding the progress of the improvements to the Port Pirie regional hospital accident and emergency? What benefits will it bring to the people in the regions and also to the staff of the hospital?

The Hon. C.J. PICTON (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:18): I thank the member for Stuart. No-one is a stronger advocate for their local community than the member for Stuart in this place. He is the man who saved Port Pirie and the man who has been advocating for many, many years for further investments in the Port Pirie regional hospital, which we are now delivering.

The current emergency department of the Port Pirie regional hospital is unfortunately too small for the number of patients it sees. It is outdated. It has been needing a new emergency department for some time. That is why we made one of our election commitments to invest in that and to rebuild the emergency department of the Port Pirie hospital, and that is what we are now doing. It was one of the investments that we were able to make, because we cancelled the original plans for the $662 million Adelaide basketball stadium and invested that money all into health, including at least $100 million of inter-country health services—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Members on my left will come to order!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: The member for Morphett doesn't want to hear about this investment in country health services, but we are absolutely committed to seeing these investments roll out. That is why we are so delighted that works have now started for the new Port Pirie emergency department—a $15.6 million investment in that department—which is going to substantially increase the size of the emergency department, going from a current 450 square metres up to 700 square metres in the new department.

It will deliver two resuscitation bays, eight patient treatment bays, a low stimulation room, a new emergency department entrance with patient admission and consulting areas, a new covered ambulance arrivals area, ambulance equipment storage and ride-up zone, and new staff facilities including staff stations, offices, utility areas and storage. This is the investment that Port Pirie has been calling for for a very long period of time and it makes sure that we will be able to deliver the healthcare services that the area needs.

Also, at the same time, we have been investing in the clinicians, the doctors and nurses who work in Port Pirie hospital, including a consultant emergency department physician who started in the past year or so, substantially improving the level of care being provided at Port Pirie. We have great ambitions, as the member knows, in terms of making sure that we can improve our training of clinicians in the local area. That is why we are also delighted that we are making that investment in the training hub in the clinical simulation lab for Port Pirie and the broader region, working in conjunction with Uni Hub, so that we will be able to have further training take place, that clinical training component, particularly for nursing degrees, and enable more of those homegrown healthcare heroes in Port Pirie into the future as well.

All of this we need because we know that the demand of the Port Pirie emergency department is going to increase. It is currently expected that we are going to grow from some 12,000 presentations in 2018-19 to over 14,000 presentations in 2031-32. That's why we need this larger investment, that's why we need to make sure that it's fit for purpose so that people can receive the care that they need.

As well as that, we are also investing in the new helipad as well, so a $2.3 million investment to make sure that the Port Pirie helipad meets those standards. We are delighted, of course, along with the Treasurer and also the Minister for Emergency Services today, to announce the new contract for our new helicopters, which will be faster, can travel longer distances and will provide greater coverage for people in Port Pirie and regional South Australia.