KordaMentha Report

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (15:22): A further supplementary: is the minister saying we don't need those 40 winter beds, given the demand on hospitals last night was still at Code White, and ramping is, according to our clinicians, 'worse than it has ever been before'—ever been before!

The PRESIDENT: I take the first part of the question, rather than commentary, as a supplementary. Minister.

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:22): I'm not sure what part was left, but let's be clear about this: we need more capacity in our hospitals. We cannot afford to run our hospitals full, because when you run them full, as soon as you have a seasonal influx—as soon as you have a surge capacity—you are not able to deal with that within the EDs and you have ambulance ramping.

What we have heard consistently from clinicians and from management, including at the hospital demand discussions in recent months, is that we need to have patient flow. We need to make sure that we've got beds available; we can't afford to run full. That's why reducing length of stays that are unnecessary is in the interests of the individual patient, and it's also in the interests of the health system.

Let me reiterate some of the reasons why reducing length of stay is actually in the interests of the person receiving the care. Longer stays can increase infections, they can lead to a loss of muscle strength and muscle mass, and they can lead to decline in cognitive functioning. The Hon. Michelle Lensink, who I respect as a clinician in her own right, would be aware of the negative consequences of a lack of movement.

What I am told is that if a patient spends 10 days of bed rest in a hospital, it can actually age the muscle up to 10 years. That can be an absolutely fundamental issue, particularly for older South Australians. If they are experiencing an unnecessary length of stay, they are experiencing muscle deconditioning and their capacity to move to residential aged care or to move home could be significantly undermined. The fact of the matter is that we need to make sure we avoid unnecessary length of stays, both for the efficiency of the health system and also for delivering the best possible patient outcomes.