Hospital Beds

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (14:49): Supplementary question: will the minister advise whether any ward at either The Queen Elizabeth Hospital or the Royal Adelaide Hospital will be closed?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:49): The answer I have just given has indicated that it is the CEO of the hospital, not me—I don't make decisions in relation to how beds are managed and which wards open and which wards close. But the chief executive of those two hospitals has said that to maintain a safe, efficient hospital she would be looking towards maintaining 6 per cent to 8 per cent of beds available. If every time a bed is empty the Labor Party wants to call it closed, they will have very little credibility in health.