Southern Hospital Services

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (14:26): My question is for the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Given that ramping is a product of bed block, with patients stuck in emergency departments waiting for a bed elsewhere in the hospital, will the minister's announcement to create 30 additional emergency beds at the Flinders Medical Centre and move its acute medical unit to the Noarlunga Hospital just lead to more people stuck in our emergency departments, and why doesn't the announcement include more beds for moving people out of the emergency department at Flinders?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:27): I really thank the honourable member for her question. I really thank her, because I think it is important for the council to understand what the Marshall Liberal government is delivering with this investment in the southern hospitals. I would like to remind the council what a significant investment this is. What the government has announced this morning, in its totality across three different sites, is $85.7 million investment in health—$85.7 million. Three different sites: the Flinders Medical Centre, the Noarlunga Hospital and the Repatriation Health Precinct. It delivers on three key priorities of this government. First of all, it is reactivating the Repat.

The Hon. I.K. Hunter interjecting:

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Yes, you are right, the Hon. Ian Hunter. That's the hospital that you promised you would never ever close. It's a hospital that was closed by Labor, but this government is delivering in its reactivation of the Repat. What the announcement this morning highlights is that there will be a geriatric ward transferring from the Noarlunga Hospital to the Repatriation Health Precinct. That will give a great opportunity to benefit from the co-location synergies with the geriatric and dementia services on the Repat site. That space freed up in the Noarlunga Hospital site will have an acute medical unit transferred from the Flinders Medical Centre to the Noarlunga Hospital.

At the Noarlunga Hospital, that will mean that we have made two investments of acute medical beds since the election. What that means is that this hospital will not only have overnight medical cover in the emergency department but right across the hospital. There is an opinion within the Southern Adelaide Local Health Network that it will actually mean that not only have we undone the damage of Transforming Health but we have actually made the Noarlunga Hospital better than it ever was under Labor. This is a matter of delivering for the people in the south.

The third aspect—and this goes to the honourable member's question about stopping ambulance ramping—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. S.G. WADE: The honourable member's question relates to stopping ambulance ramping, and that is the third government priority that is delivered by this $85.7 million investment. We inherited a Flinders Medical Centre ED that was already over capacity. It was last redeveloped in 2010 under the former government. It reached capacity, I understand, a couple of years after that. In other words, for seven years it has been over capacity.

So we now have the busiest hospital ED in the state, which is operating at about—I think it is almost 90,000 ED presentations a year: 90,000 presentations for a facility that was designed to receive 70,000 patients. It actually has 50 per cent more presentations per treatment bay than the Royal Adelaide Hospital. Why would you do that? Why would you build a $2.4 billion hospital in the city and ignore a facility that since 2010 has not been redeveloped—has been over capacity from about two years later—and completely ignore the south?

The Flinders Medical Centre was crying out for an investment, and that is what the Marshall Liberal government is delivering. It will actually be a doubling of the adult emergency department capacity—

The Hon. T.J. Stephens: A doubling?

The Hon. S.G. WADE: The adult bit. It is only a 40 per cent increase in ED treatment spaces overall, but in relation to adults I'm told it's a 50 per cent increase in ED treatment spaces. I think it is important, on the Hon. Emily Bourke's point, which I think is a fair point—that EDs won't prosper without the support of the whole hospital; I'm glad she's been listening to some of my earlier answers this year. But in relation to the investment we made today, even within the ED we are helping manage that patient journey.

Half of the treatment bays in the Flinders Medical Centre are actually EECU beds—emergency extended care unit beds. That gives people the opportunity to receive treatment or be observed for up to 24 hours. It is a bit more than see and treat. You are being actually admitted into the unit for up to 24 hours. It's a very good way of providing people care close to home without needing to make a hospital addition.

So 12 of the treatment bays will be shall we say standard emergency department treatment bays; another 12 of them are emergency extended care unit beds. So we are very proud that in this enhancement across three sites we will do exactly what the Hon. Emily Bourke is calling on us to do in her question, which is to make sure that we invest not only in EDs but beyond EDs. But at least we are better than Labor. When it comes to the Flinders Medical Centre, we are investing in the ED. They neglected it for years.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Ms Bourke, a supplementary.