Transforming Health

The Hon. S.G. WADE (15:51): I rise this afternoon to reflect on a meeting that was held on Monday night at the council chambers of the City of Onkaparinga in relation to Transforming Health and its damaging impact on the Noarlunga Hospital. It was organised by Maureen and Kevin Hamilton. Mr Hamilton was a former member of this place. The honourable members who were present were John Darley, David Speirs and, to her credit, the member for Fisher, Nat Cook. Also, the Liberal candidate for Hurtle Vale was present, Mr Aaron Duff. People notable by their absence, on the other hand, were Katrine Hildyard, the member for Reynell, and Chris Picton, the member for Kaurna.

Labor members are noted for making pontificating statements in the coward's castle of parliament, whereas at least those members ventured out to speak to the community in a very, shall we say, robust environment and engaged people on issues that were concerning them. I had been warned by a person within the public sector that the government was looking for an opportunity to take a defamation action against me. I would regard that as a reflection on a government that wants to stay within coward's castle.

Let us think about the integrity of this government before it starts throwing its bullyboy tactics around. We are less than 12 months away from an election and when you get given promises by Labor members and candidates, members in this community need to be very wary of who they can trust. Before the 2014 election, Labor promised that it would never ever close the Repat—now Labor plans to close it at the end of this year. Before the 2014 election, Labor promised to spend $31 million on the Noarlunga Hospital—now they are only spending $12 million.

Did Labor tell you they were going to close three hospitals? Did Labor tell you they were going to downgrade three metropolitan emergency departments? In 2016, the Weatherill government closed 20 per cent of Noarlunga's emergency department treatment bays. There were no additional emergency bays opened up at Flinders to allow for the increase. So, here we are two years into Transforming Health. If it has been such a wonderful and miraculous revelation to the current Minister for Health and member for Playford, the want-to-be member for Florey, what have we seen over the last two years?

On Monday night, about 200 people turned up at this meeting, and while they were meeting to express their concerns about the health system, emergency departments right across Adelaide were gridlocked. Five out of the seven emergency departments were operating at Code White on Monday night. FMC was operating at more than 60 per cent over capacity, and Noarlunga, a hospital that is meant to be feeding into the grossly overcrowded Flinders Medical Centre, was operating at code yellow. It had been over capacity for four hours straight by 5.30 that afternoon.

In March 2017, Noarlunga's ED was operating over capacity for at least eight hours straight on four different occasions. During one of those periods its ED was Code White for nine hours straight. Transforming Health is not working on the ground. The people who live in the south have to travel further to get the care they need.

Under state Labor's controversial Transforming Health plan the Noarlunga Hospital is no longer a local community hospital: it is being turned into a regional day surgery centre, with a strong focus on geriatric services. More than half the beds at Noarlunga Hospital will be geriatric beds. This is an area that is growing dramatically right down to the Southern Vales. People from the inner southern suburbs will now be forced to travel to Noarlunga for day surgery. Older people from that northern area, particularly older people who are looking for geriatric services, which were previously available at the Repat, will now be forced to travel further to Noarlunga.

Noarlunga is losing its private hospital as the 26-bed Myles Ward is being closed to make room for services from the Repat. The whole of the southern region will suffer with this government's broken promise to close the Repat. Southern Adelaide is losing a total of 117 inpatient beds. The AMA said that the public hospital system cannot cope with the loss of that amount of services. Already, we are seeing that the government is demonstrating that it cannot find the space for all these services because it is putting 120 non-clinical staff at Tonsley. This is money that is being wasted; it should be upgrading the Repat to renew the Repat as a health precinct. Instead, the government is resolutely pushing ahead with its destruction of health services in the south.