SA Pathology

The Hon. I. PNEVMATIKOS (15:50): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Health regarding SA Pathology.

Leave granted.

The Hon. I. PNEVMATIKOS: On 4 February 2015, the member for Stuart said in The Transcontinental, and I quote: 'Generally, I am a strong supporter of private industry, but I do not expect that a private pathology company would provide the same level of service in Port Augusta as SA Pathology currently does.' My question to the minister is: does the minister agree with the member for Stuart's comments that a private pathology company will not be able to provide South Australians with the same level of service that they have expected and have had?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:50): I thank the honourable member for her question and through you, Mr President, I just reiterate what the government has engaged in. The government has said that it believes that there is opportunity for more efficient delivery of pathology services in South Australia and that therefore we are going to establish a review by PricewaterhouseCoopers that will, in six months, come back with information to the government. Let me quote from the Budget Measures document. It says:

Efficiencies will therefore be pursued in SA Pathology, with the intent of delivering a service consistent with interstate peers. With the implementation of local health network boards from 2019-20, the public pathology service will be accountable for its performance. Should efficiencies not be achieved, it will be open to those boards to procure services from alternative providers.

So, the government is well short of presuming the outcome of the PricewaterhouseCoopers review, and we have indicated that we believe that decisions such as this should be fundamentally informed by the perspective of local health networks. That is particularly important for country South Australia.

That's why, unlike the former government, which in 2008 abolished dozens of boards around South Australia and completely undermined the capacity for self-determination in health services by local health network boards, the Treasurer has clearly indicated that, once this review is over, once the capacity for SA Pathology to demonstrate efficiencies has been made clear, then other options will be open. We are certainly not going to presume the outcome of this review, the outcome of SA Pathology's response to that review and, for that matter, what local health network boards might decide in terms of delivery of their own services.