Modbury Hospital

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (14:56): Supplementary arising from the minister's comments in relation to the fact that the review was focused on safety: given that he has mentioned that safety is at the core of the review, does he have concerns that under the changes that have taken place at Modbury safety has become an issue?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse) (14:56): No, not at all; in fact, quite the opposite. What I am concerned about is that a hastily produced policy that lacks detail, lacks thought and lacks consultation, could end up being a policy that compromises safety. That's my concern. I don't want to exploit my first question time as Minister for Health by entering a tit for tat political debate on Modbury and who has policies out there that lack detail.

What we are going to do and my remarks simply refer to the fact that if any changes are going to be made to what services are provided at Modbury, if changes are going to be made to the way NALHN operates in and around what happens at Modbury, then I want to stipulate that one of the key criteria for those changes will be safety, will be patients' health outcomes. That will be a key criterion that everyone expects should be a key criterion when it comes to the development of policies in and around Modbury Hospital or in the health context generally.

I am concerned that if as we approach the election one side of politics hastily puts together a press release and a policy just because there has been a reshuffle, that might be at the expense of considered thought and it might be at the expense of patient safety. It might not be, too. That is why we want to do the work and make sure that we get the advice of clinicians, get the advice of nurses, get the advice of Adelaide health professionals, get the advice of community members, to make sure that any changes that we implement at Modbury are quality ones that contribute to the continuous improvement that we are committed towards when it comes to public health in the north-eastern suburbs.