Eastern Eyre Health Advisory Council

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (15:07): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Health and Wellbeing a question.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: Earlier this week, I asked the minister what the government was doing to address a chronic shortage of doctors, medical specialists and mental health counsellors on Eyre Peninsula. As coincidence has it, I have since received a copy of the resignation letter from Dean Johnson, the presiding member of the Eastern Eyre Health Advisory Council, whose major role is to relay ideas and views from the community to the local health service; ideas that are meant to be used in planning for new and improved services.

The council, which represents hospitals and health services in Cleve, Cowell and Kimba, also provides advice to the Minister for Health and the Chief Executive of Country Health South Australia on matters outside of the local area affecting residents of Eastern Eyre. The council spent almost $100,000 trying to recruit a GP. The letter by Mr Johnson, who is also Mayor of the District Council of Kimba, makes for disturbing reading. I quote:

The SA Health system has evolved into a series of brick walls and blockages designed to protect those inside the system, and keep external influences out…It is a top-down approach that inevitably results in depleted local services and poorer outcomes for those who choose to live and work in the regional parts of the state, a reality I believe is completely unacceptable…Not only are Cowell and Kimba without resident GP services, but there is little to no effort on recruiting by Country Health SA, the Rural Doctors Workforce Agency, or the Minister for Health.

He goes on, and his frustration is clear, and again I quote:

I have written to the Minister for Health, the Hon. Stephen Wade, multiple times without reply or even acknowledgment. I find this completely unacceptable, and must now commit all my available time and energy into finding our town a GP.

I could go on, but instead I will table the letter. My questions to the minister are:

1. Can he explain why he is yet to respond to Mr Johnson?

2. Will he now personally step in to help this desperate region find a GP before a tragedy occurs that could have been averted?

3. Will he demand his department address this critical issue?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:10): I thank the honourable member for his question. I have had requests from the District Council of Kimba for a meeting, and since I have been appointed I have been working through those meeting requests. In terms of a letter from Mr Johnson, the only letter I have on record is a letter written on 31 July, and I received a draft reply from the department this week.

In terms of the letter the honourable member read, the first part of the letter is in relation to the lack of responsiveness of Country Health SA, which is a well-founded concern right across country South Australia, and that is why this government is committed to establishing regional board governance so that communities have decision-makers closer to them and they can be actively involved in the decision-making process.

A point that Mr Johnson made in his 31 July letter is one on which I completely agree with him, that is, that the response to the GP shortage on Eyre Peninsula is likely to be a regional model. The Kimba council model up until now has been a localised model, but in the Mid Eyre service, which is owned and run by—

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Point of order, Mr President.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Yes, the Hon. Mr Hunter.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: The point of order is that the honourable minister is falling into bad practices and turning his back on you, sir, again, having been warned against that previously.

The PRESIDENT: Thank you, Hon. Mr Hunter. Minister, through me.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: So the Mid Eyre model is a regional model, and there have been discussions both with the District Council of Kimba and with the Franklin Harbour district council in terms of the opportunities for those councils to participate in the Mid Eyre medical model.

In terms of Country Health's stepping in to try to support services where there are gaps, Country Health is providing services for clients from Kimba, Cowell, Cleve, Arno Bay and other surrounding communities from the Country Health-owned Mid Eyre practice in Cleve. The Mid Eyre Medical practice has three permanent general practitioners and also relies on locums in order to meet demand and to provide for a sustainable on-call roster.

I believe the solution to the issues at Eyre Peninsula will involve local government, state government and commonwealth government, and I particularly recognise the financial contributions that both the Streaky Bay council and the Kimba council have put in. Just to clarify the Hon. Frank Pangallo's question: it was not the health advisory council that put the money into GP services, it was the District Council of Kimba.

I have had discussions with local government representatives and local MPs from Eyre Peninsula and, as I indicated to the council on Tuesday, I will be visiting Eyre Peninsula in the near future to meet with a range of stakeholders, because I believe that the response will be across governments and it will be across the region.

The PRESIDENT: Hon. Mr Pangallo, a supplementary.