Royal Adelaide Hospital

The Hon. J.E. HANSON (15:25): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Health and Wellbeing regarding a sleep unit at the RAH.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.E. HANSON: Yesterday, the minister was presented with a petition from 2,000 South Australians calling upon him to re-establish the sleep unit at the RAH. This unit helps diagnose and treat life-threatening breathing conditions. Before the election, there was an agreement with the clinicians for the sleep unit to be re-established by using four beds in the medical day treatment unit at marginal cost. This was confirmed again by SA Health after the election. My question to the minister is: why has the government gone back on the previous SA Health commitment to establish the sleep unit in the medical day treatment unit at the RAH?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:26): You would think that the Labor Party would desist from setting itself with a target mark on it, trying to highlight the deficiencies in the establishment of the new Royal Adelaide Hospital. There was a sleep laboratory at the old Royal Adelaide Hospital, yet the former Labor government over 10 years designed and built a hospital, at a cost of $2.4 billion, and did not have a dedicated sleep laboratory in that facility.

This government is now faced with yet another opportunity to try to fix up Labor's mess, and what do we get from Labor? Constant carping and constant criticism of the government trying to make the best of a very bad situation. Not only did they build a PPP, a privatisation initiative, that cost $2.4 billion to build and will cost us $11 billion over the remaining 29 years, but the Labor Party wants to take, time after time, the opportunity to highlight its own failings in delivering health services. Yet all they can do when this government is workmanlike, getting on with the job of fixing the mess, is to carp and carp and carp.

The Hon. J.E. HANSON: Point of order: my question related to a petition that was handed to the minister. My question related to a record of whether or not it is going to be established within the facility. What I haven't heard is anything relating to those, only to previous governments. I am just wondering if this government actually wants to outline what it is doing.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Hanson, I give the minister some latitude. I am sure, now that you have pointed out the requirements of your question, he will come to it. Minister.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Of course, I was talking about the sleep unit at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. That's what the question was about. If the member doesn't want to hear about the failings of the party that he is a member of and that this government is committed to fixing, they don't have the right to even put themselves up as an alternative government.

Let's be very clear that the RAH was not designed to include an inpatient elective sleep service. Retrofitting a four-bed sleep laboratory is very expensive. It is an option that is being looked at. The report on that service has been provided to the CEO of CALHN and is currently under investigation. A briefing will be provided to me in due course after the CEO has the opportunity to consider it.