Health Governance

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (15:05): My question is directed to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Will the minister update the council on the reform to governance in the South Australian health system?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:05): I thank the honourable member for his question and acknowledge his strong commitment for the voice of country people in health services. By the time of the 2018 state election, South Australians had lost confidence in their public health system. They had lost confidence particularly in the ability or even the willingness of the former Labor government to deliver improvement in services.

They downgraded services in metropolitan hospitals, neglected country hospitals and built a new hospital that was $700 million over budget and 17 months behind schedule. They promised to never, ever close the Repat, and that is exactly what they did in November 2017. While cutting health services, the Auditor-General found that Labor's disastrous Transforming Health experiment actually cost the taxpayer $47 million—$47 million.

Part of the Transforming Health changes was predicated on the centralisation of services. This was just the next wave of Labor centralisation, because in 2007-08 we saw Labor's centralisation of health governance. Labor abolished local health boards in 2008 and they then went on and abolished the clinical networks under Transforming Health.

The Marshall Liberal government was elected with a commitment to undo the damage of Labor's changes in health. A key plank was the re-establishment of health boards. I am pleased to be able to advise the council that these boards became operational yesterday, 1 July 2019. In addition to the metropolitan local health networks, we have established six new LHNs in country South Australia and, of course, there is the statewide Women's and Children's Health Network.

The country boards are based on the administrative regions that were operating in the former Country Health SA. Boards are skills based, with a requirement that each board has at least two members who are health professionals and one with expertise in Aboriginal health. The establishment of local boards will increase accountability and devolve decision-making away from the centralised bureaucracy, bringing it closer to local communities. This means local decisions for local communities.

Importantly, each board has a legislated requirement to develop consumer and clinician engagement strategies in their local health network. The establishment of the boards is an historic movement in the Marshall Liberal government's work to rebalance the health system away from the centralised bureaucracy Labor created and to re-engage South Australian health consumers and clinicians. This, in turn, will be a significant part of the process of rebuilding trust in the public health system.

Of course, Labor does not want decentralised health governance; Labor will do anything they can to defend their Transforming Health legacy and stop the Marshall Liberal government from fixing Labor's mess, but we are determined to get on with the job. I wish all the new board chairs, board members and CEOs well in their endeavours and I look forward to working with them and our clinicians and consumers to deliver improved health services to South Australians.