Royal Adelaide Hospital

The Hon. T.T. NGO (15:24): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Who made the decision to close the entire 9E wing at the Royal Adelaide Hospital for a month, starting in four weeks' time?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:24): I am not in a position to comment because I don't know whether what the Hon. Tung Ngo has claimed is the case. What I can say is that considering that we have 40,000 staff right across South Australia working for SA Health, there is a very large manageable workforce that is making decisions every day. I think it is important to appreciate the seasonal nature of the hospital operations.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Let the minister answer.

The Hon. K.J. Maher: Say you don't know what's going on in your portfolio.

The PRESIDENT: The Leader of the Opposition, please do not try to put words in the minister's mouth whilst you are seated. Minister.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Don't try it. Minister, go on.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Thank you, Mr President, and thank you for trying to teach the other side how parliament works. I will make inquiries in relation to the particular ward, but what I would remind the council is that, in the context of the hospital demand pressures that our health system has been under, particularly in recent times, I have highlighted that the government will continue to be alert, and where there is a proposal to close beds, make sure that they are not needed in terms of demand.

The tangible demonstration of that was in relation to the 20 beds at the Repatriation General Hospital—not the beds in the new Repat because they are new beds. They are basically the first inpatient beds at the old Repatriation General Hospital site since the former Labor government broke its promise to never, ever close the Repat. What is the date today? The 15^th. My recollection is that the former Repatriation General Hospital closed on about 17 November, so it is almost a year since the former Labor government broke its promise to never, ever close the Repat.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! I cannot hear the minister. Minister, go on.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: It goes without saying that the net loss of 100 beds in the southern system as a result of Labor's treachery to the people of South Australia has had an impact on the health system this year. I mentioned the new beds that are in the former Repatriation General Hospital in the former rehab building. We have extended the contract for the beds in what I think they call Ward RV, which is one of the wards in the southern part of the ViTA complex, and the southern network has assessed that they will have an ongoing need for those beds.

We expect management to look at the demand. Demand will often decrease over summer, not just because of seasonal factors such as influenza and the like, but it will be also impacted by seasonal factors such as elective surgery. There is often a reduction in elective surgery over the Christmas-New Year period, not only because staff are not available but also often patients prefer to have their elective surgery scheduled in other parts of the year. So there will be opening and closing of beds, as they are needed, over the coming months.