Royal Adelaide Hospital

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY (15:40): My question is to the Minister for Health. I understand the pains unit and the chest clinic and some administrative staff are still located at or adjacent to the old RAH? Can the minister advise if and when these units will be relocated to the new Royal Adelaide Hospital or adjacent to it?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse) (15:41): I thank the honourable member for his question. This issue that the honourable member raises has been the subject of some public interest for some time. That is understandable. The whole health sector has been busy trying to make sure that the move to the new Royal Adelaide Hospital has been as smooth as possible. By and large, I think that is something that has been achieved and a lot of people within the health sector can be incredibly proud.

Of course, the issue regarding the chest clinic remains an ongoing issue. We have stated already publicly—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The minister is on his feet.

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS: We have already stated publicly that we are engaging in a process to ensure that the chest clinic services can be delivered in a location ideally that is located very close to the new Royal Adelaide Hospital. It is unfortunate that this issue remains unresolved, but there are a number of people—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS: —who are working incredibly hard to resolve this. Ms Jenny Richter, CEO of the Central Adelaide Local Health Network, is meeting almost on a weekly basis, I am advised, with the relevant clinicians to try to establish a revised location so these important services can be maintained and delivered in a location that is close to the new RAH.

The PRESIDENT: Obviously, the Hon. Mr Dawkins is upset that he did not get the final question. I gave it to the Hon. Mr Darley. I did make it quite clear at the beginning that I expect the crossbench to get a minimum of questions. They had three today. The opposition had four. The fact is, though, that the minister may take a bit of time to answer his question, but I am sure he would have answered his question a lot quicker if there wasn't the interjections from the opposition.