Hydrotherapy Services

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (14:56): A supplementary question arising from the minister's answer: do I take it then that what the minister is saying is that acute inpatients or specific outpatients of SA Health get higher priority than people who are trying to manage their own chronic conditions? Is it the government's policy then that they don't really support primary health and people doing their best to manage their own conditions?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse) (14:57): With all due respect, I don't think that is an accurate representation of what I have said, except to say that naturally those people who are existing patients of SA Health have to be the priority in terms of getting access to those services. Where we can accommodate other people getting access to the pool for the purposes of self-help, then of course we actively encourage that, welcome it and help facilitate it. But it goes without saying that the people who are within the care of SA Health, who need access to hydrotherapy pools, need to be sure that we can provide for that, and that is exactly what we will be doing at the brand-new pool that the government has built.