Women's and Children's Hospital Paediatric Intensive Care Unit

Mrs HURN (Schubert) (14:27): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Will the temporary paediatric ICU at the Women's and Children's Hospital have fewer beds than the current one? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mrs HURN: Information provided to the Public Works Committee in February noted that the number of treatment spaces would remain the same in the temporary unit as the current one; however, The Advertiser reported that PICU staff will have to make do in a new location with three fewer beds.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:28): As I just outlined, not only are we using the 10 beds in the medical day unit but also there are four additional beds that are being used, so that's larger than the current 13-bed capacity of the paediatric intensive care unit. So we are making sure that we can deliver those services that we are currently delivering, and this is ultimately being done with the objective of increasing that number to 16 beds to lead to an increase in terms of the permanent capacity of that intensive care unit.