Disability EQUIPMENT

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT (15:56): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking questions of the relevant minister—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT: —if it's alright by you, Mr Ridgway—about the transportation of disability equipment for patients of SA Health hospitals.

Leave granted.

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT: Following a call to my office from a constituent just today, Dignity for Disability has some concerns about the transportation of personal disability equipment by SA Health, particularly when patients are coming to Adelaide from regional areas for treatment. Our constituent, who has given his permission to be talked about today, is a bilateral amputee and permanent wheelchair user. He was airlifted from Whyalla to the Royal Adelaide Hospital by the Royal Flying Doctor Service on Wednesday night, 3 February, and has been in the RAH since that day. I understand he will been discharged tomorrow, Wednesday 10 February.

While he was admitted to the Royal Adelaide last Wednesday, it took until yesterday for his manual wheelchair to arrive at the hospital; that is, it took 4 ½ days. Our constituent is very concerned that when he is discharged tomorrow and transported back to Whyalla, again by the Royal Flying Doctor Service airbus, it could take another three to four days for his wheelchair to arrive back in Whyalla at home with him, leaving him stranded without his mobility aid in the meantime.

Our constituent has been told that it is at the pilot's discretion as to whether or not they will transport his wheelchair. On our constituent's previous two stays at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 2012, on both occasions it took between four and five days for his wheelchair to arrive with him in Adelaide. While then the Royal Adelaide provided him with a wheelchair, after three days in hospital he had to take the initiative to request it. Our constituent has investigated having his wheelchair transported via Rex Airlines, but I am told that there will be a personal cost of upwards of $100. My questions are:

1. Can the minister reassure our constituent that his wheelchair will be transported with him on the return journey to Whyalla and that this will happen on consequent trips if he needs to come back to Adelaide for treatment?

2. Does the minister agree that it is unacceptable that a patient should be forced to go without their essential aid for a number of days in modern-day Australia?

3. What is exactly the SA Health procedure for the transportation of essential equipment, including equipment required for mobility, particularly with transportation from rural and regional South Australia to Adelaide hospitals?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (15:59): I thank the honourable member for her most important question. Particularly, I can understand the difficulty faced by patients from rural and regional South Australia who have particular equipment designed specifically for them and which cannot be readily replaced with standby equipment in town. I understand that completely and I am sure the minister does as well. I undertake to take that question to the minister in another place and seek a response on her behalf.