Schubert Health Services

Mrs HURN (Schubert) (15:26): I have two really fantastic hospitals in my local community: I have the Angaston hospital and the Tanunda hospital, both of which have served our community exceptionally well for a long period of time. There are some really remarkable doctors and nurses who are employed within those hospitals. But locals are unfortunately becoming increasingly alarmed about the future of the emergency department at the Angaston District Hospital.

The accident and emergency service at Angaston has already been closed, unfortunately, for a number of days this year due to difficulty in having it staffed, which is obviously a critically important element of having a hospital. This is in addition to the fact that the Tanunda hospital has also had a reduction in bed numbers over the last couple of months, and it is unclear when these bed numbers will be lifted up again. It has now been brought to my attention over the last couple of days that the after-hours emergency care at the Angaston hospital may cease altogether.

It should clearly go without saying that any reduction in service for my local community would be completely and utterly unacceptable. We need to have first-class services in regional communities, just like we deserve them in the city as well. It is especially the case that having a reduction in service would clearly be concerning when you look at the entire state of the health system, which is under some really extraordinary pressure through emergency departments that are bursting at the seams, extensive and long waiting lists for elective surgery and, of course, the record ramping that we have seen under this government.

That is exactly why we cannot afford for there to be a single reduction in service anywhere in the community but particularly in regional communities, like mine of the Barossa Valley and the Adelaide Hills. So I have written to the minister and urged him to work with all relevant stakeholders, whether that is the local health network or the two fantastic local GP clinics that service the Tanunda hospital and the Angaston hospital, to ensure that we can retain this vital service going forward.

I have asked, and it has been an issue that I have actually raised with the minister on a separate occasion, that our local health network has a rollout of the SAVES program, the South Australian Virtual Emergency Service. It is operated through the RDWA and operates from 7pm until 7am at rural hospitals across the state. The RDWA does have on their website all of the fantastic things they are designed to do. In particular the website says SAVES is designed to support rural doctors and provide greater flexibility for their operating hours.

This is a service that clinicians are really hoping to see roll out across the entire LHN, and I have raised this with the minister. It is something that GPs have said might assist with some of the pressures that are being faced at the Tanunda and Angaston hospitals. So I am really, really hoping that this situation can be rectified because to lose such a service would be really unfortunate, and frankly I do not think our community would accept it in any way, shape or form. I will keep advocating for it to remain open for the foreseeable future—well into the future.

It would be probably pretty remiss of me not to mention the new Barossa hospital again. This is something that our local community has been pushing for a very long time, and with the budget coming up again there is another opportunity for the government to invest in the capital works required to build the hospital. I am looking forward to continuing to push for that cause here in the parliament on behalf of my local community.

Our region is expanding. If you look at the Barossa, we have a growing population. If you look at what is happening right on our doorstep in Concordia, Roseworthy and Two Wells, we need more services in our regions, not fewer, so any talk of the Angaston hospital having a reduction in its emergency department hours would just be silly. Our community deserves the very best care.

With the state budget coming up, one of the things I am really hopeful to see is additional money injected into our regional road maintenance. It is no secret that there is a $2 billion road maintenance backlog in South Australia, and it is absolutely causing havoc and mayhem in regional communities like mine. Not a single day goes by where a local constituent does not come to me complaining about another road. It is raising attention and raising awareness to these roads that need to be addressed for safety, and I will keep pushing on behalf of my local community.